


Lamprocapnos Spectabilis: Bleeding Heart

by Passionrising



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: A Bad Pun or Ten, A Mystery or Two, Child Death, Dealing with being dead and other fun activities, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Insanity, Mental Instability, Not the Happiest of Stories, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Spoilers, Still has Heartfelt Moments Though, Trauma, Trigger Warnings, attempted suicide
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-26
Updated: 2017-06-22
Packaged: 2018-05-29 06:29:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 28
Words: 139,230
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6363181
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Passionrising/pseuds/Passionrising
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A lot of children didn't make it out of the Underground. Chara was no exception.<br/>A story depicting Chara's inner turmoil and how they came to know the other six human souls. Everyone has a story to tell in this 'friendly world where no one has to die'.</p>
<p>"Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life." Proverbs 4:23(KJV).</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Home

They woke up with a mouth full of dirt.

It was a miracle that they had survived at all, though the pain that rippled through their body suggested otherwise. Groaning, they rolled onto their side to gaze up at the gaping hole that was now just the size of a small dinner plate. Squinting through the light that flittered in from above, they took the green sleeve of their sweater and pressed it to the blood that was streaming down the side of their face.

Chara had left their old house on the fourth day of their abandonment. It had taken three days of hungry waiting before Chara finally accepted that no one would be coming back for them, and another day to take action. Their reluctant guardian had tried their best, they really had, but in the end they just couldn’t afford to take care of a kid. Likewise, they had been unable to fill the void that was left after the death of Chara’s parents. Chara was neither upset, nor surprised that they were, once again, left completely alone.

Chara stood wobbling on their feet only to come crashing back to the ground as a wave of dizziness swept over them. They had hoped their death would be quicker than this. The stories said that kids were supposed to disappear on this mountain forever, and that their cries could still be heard today.

They said that the monsters gobbled them up.

Falling down had been a complete accident. When they had gazed into the cave from above, Chara had changed their mind about ending it all. They didn't want to die. They wanted... something. It's not like their parents could be brought back to life- things like that just don't happen. It's not like the adults had much time to draw or pick flowers with their child anyway- every waking minute was spent working to keep the house. Truthfully, Chara wasn't sure if they had ever been happy. If they ever saw a falling star, they wouldn't even know what it was they would need to wish for.

Regardless of wishes, fate had taken them by surprise in the form of a gnarled root, toppling them into the mouth of the mountain.

Chara stared defeatedly as their sweater was slowly dyed a bright crimson. 

 _Idiot,_ they thought bitterly.

“-ounds like it came from over here…”

Chara snapped their attention in the direction of the voice, wincing as they were met with a splitting pain in their skull. Something shuffled from behind one of the pillars that encircled the illuminated clearing. A furry… _creature_ , in a green and yellow sweater, not unlike Chara’s, emerged from the shadows and locked it’s eyes with them.

“Oh!” It started as it looked over Chara’s bloody, open-mouthed face. “You've fallen down, haven't you? Are you okay?” it inched closer.

Chara didn’t know what to think. Had they hit their head? Or had they died, after all? Surely this fluffy thing wasn’t one of the monsters that the townsfolk feared so much. And he was no bigger than Chara themselves.

“Here, get up…” it offered a paw-like hand with short, blunt claws.

Chara hesitated for a moment, but stretched out their free hand and took hold. “Geez, Chara, what the heck have you gotten yourself into?” They muttered to themselves.

“Chara huh?”

Chara jumped when the monster spoke their name. They hadn't ment it to hear them, and now it was staring at them with wonder-filled eyes. From the way the eyes sparkled, Chara could tell that this was a bizarre experience for  _both_ of them.

“That’s a nice name! My name is Asriel.” Asriel tilted his head and gave a tentative smile as he helped Chara to their feet. “Can you walk alright? C’mon, we need to get you fixed up.” He tugged Chara along further into the cavern and away from the only visible opening to the surface.

“Where are we going?” Chara asked, now somewhat nervous.

“Home.”

_______

Chara struggled to stay upright as Asriel led them through the labyrinth of puzzles. At first, they were impressed by how quickly he could solve them, but then realized that he had every switch, button, and pitfall memorized by heart. Chara might’ve liked to try and solve one by themselves, but the blood that’d only just stopped dripping from their forehead demanded their attention. As one could expect, it kinda took the fun out of it.

Chara’s overall judgment of Asriel was… Dorkish.

Dorkish in a good way.

He paraded along with a strangely-cheerful step and pulled Chara into a conversation despite their condition. Of course, it wasn't so much a 'conversation' as it was a barrage of rather personal questions. “What’s your favorite color?” “Are you really from the surface?” “What’s you’re favorite food?” “What kind of monster are you?” “What’s the surface like?”

Chara was only willing to answer two of those questions, “Gold” and “Chocolate”, and to all the rest responded with a noncommittal “mmf”. It's not like they were going to spill their life story to some random stranger in a cave. They just wanted to get out and be on their way. Unfortunately, it appeared that said random stranger was their only means of navigation.

In a small sort of revenge, the young monster had mischievously decided not to answer any questions that Chara attempted to ask without one of his questions being answered in return. He turned up his smirking muzzle and merely responded “Green” and “Snail pie” when inquired about what was apparently called “The Underground”.

Chara was about to reprimand him for being a smart aleck, when they felt a strange sensation in their chest, as if all their warmth had been sucked out of it.

“Watch out!”

Chara hadn’t paid much mind to the frog that had hopped onto the path. They didn't think it'd have such a horrid glare like that- but it was no normal-looking frog. It leapt into the air, aiming a full-force tackle straight for a heart-shaped light floating in front of Chara’s chest.

Asriel yanked Chara out of the way, but the frog-monster had clipped the edge of the heart.

Chara felt pain splinter through their body.

“H-hey! What’s the big idea!?” Asriel demanded trying to be brave. “Can’t you see that they’re already hurt?”

Chara’s vision blurred as they processed what just happened, and turned their attention back to their attacker. The now _very_ unordinary-looking frog didn’t seem to understand what Asriel had said, but retreated with an angry croak, regardless.The heart-light phased back into Chara’s chest, their warmth returning. Asriel hadn’t seemed to notice it, but the events left the room swaying like a rocking chair in Chara's vision.

“ Weird, the Froggits have _never_ just attacked somebody at random befor- Hey, are you doin’ okay?” He did his best to offer support. “We’re almost there. Just hang on!”

Chara was all but hauled forward until they came to a house two chambers further.

Dry leaves were neatly spread at it’s front and a small sorry-looking sapling growing near the front door. Chara could see a large, horned monster looming out from the inside of the building. It spoke to Asriel in a man's voice, but Chara couldn’t quite hear the words clearly.

The orchid-colored walls began to swim into the red of the leaves until they melted together in a blur of spilled paint.Both Asriel and the new monster uttered a sound of alarm when Chara keeled over into a broken pile on the ground.

“Chara? Chara!” Asriel shouted as he shook Chara’s shoulder.

The new monster drew close, but paused for a moment. His breathing had become uneven. Shaking his head, he decided to act. The monster leaned in and lifted Chara with paws much larger than the human’s injured head.

“There, there. You are going to be alright now.”

Chara couldn’t stay conscious any longer, and let the bizarre dream of monsters fade to black.

___________

Chara came to with a sweet scent in their nose and a pleasant sound in their ear. Someone was humming a tune that was like a lullaby. It was slow and comforting, despite it’s voice seemingly tripping over some of the notes.

When they opened their eyes, they were met with a surprise. They were tucked underneath a pile of fluffy, clean blankets. In the room, there was a desk, chair, bookcase, and a few different species of potted plants. All of the furniture seemed rather large, even for an adult. Chara had been sleeping in someone’s bed. They suddenly felt very out of place.

More surprising still, Chara’s head injury didn’t hurt _at all._

Perhaps it was all a dream, or they had found their way to heaven?

They had lifted their hand to feel the place where their forehead had struck the ground, then realized that their sweater had been replaced with a long white t-shirt.

The door of the sky blue bedroom opened with a creak, causing Chara to jump. Yet another large monster with a striking resemblance to Asriel, moved smoothly into the room and turned to face Chara. “Oh! You are awake.” The monster’s voice was as sweet as the scent of the room, and as soft as it’s blankets. “I am Toriel. I… have not startled you, have I?”

Chara’s breathing began to quicken and they stared at the ground.

They had _not_ been dreaming.

They were _underground_ , lying in a _monster’s bed._

Chara jumped again when Toriel, leaned over the bed to reach an arm towards their face, but relaxed slightly when it was only to brush the hair from their eyes and examine their forehead. Toriel noticed Chara's unease and withdrew her hand.

“I have healed you as best I could. If you are feeling up to it, it would do you well to come have dinner with my family and me.”

_Oh, great._

_This is the part where they cook me up and eat me._

But Chara only nodded and allowed Toriel to help them get their bare feet out of bed and onto the wooden floor. If they were going to escape they couldn't let the monsters catch on to their suspicions. She led them by the hand out of the bedroom, down a hallway adorned with even more diverse plants, and into a cozy dining room where both Asriel and the first larger monster were engaged in a merry conversation over their food.

“ –carried them _all the way through Home_ , and I didn’t mess up a single puzzle! And then- this Froggit showed up and went _crazy_ and attacked us like - _riiibit!-_ but I- Oh! Howdy, Chara!” Asriel was beaming with the excitement of his own tale.

“Uh, hi…. Asriel.” Chara approached the table, only to realize that there were only three chairs. They shuffled uncomfortably, not wanting to take Toriel’s seat. _Of course there's only three seats. Dinner doesn't sit in a chair!_

“Do not worry, child. We will make room for you.” Toriel gestured for Chara to sit, then padded over to a worn-looking armchair. She hefted it up with alarming strength and set it by the table with a loud THUD. “There. Now, if you would like, I will fix you a meal with pie for desert.”

Chara nodded vigorously, and Toriel went off into a connecting room. It would appear that they weren't going to be dinner after all! They hadn’t eaten a full meal for at least a day and a half, and the sugary aroma that blanketed the house had made their mouth water.

Toriel set a plate in front of both Chara, and herself as she eased into the armchair contentedly. The food looked like some sort of casserole with mashed potatoes and carrots at the side. Chara took a bite along with the rest of the monster family.

It was… weird. It wasn’t awful, but the slimy texture had taken Chara by surprise. They did their best not to choke on it and offend Toriel. They mixed it with the potatoes and carrots to mask the peculiar flavor of the alien food. What was even weirder about the food, however, was that it had dissolved like cotton candy as Chara chewed, causing a pleasant feeling to ripple through their body. Toriel gave a sharp cough, and Chara had been afraid they had made a mistake.

“Dear, you are staring at our _guest_ , and you have not even introduced yourself.” Her eyes narrowed.

Chara glanced up through the mane of the beast who was, indeed, giving them a perplexed and concerned stare with soft eyes.

"Oh." He blinked to attention. "Howdy, Chara. It is nice to have you here.” He looked over at Toriel like he didn't know what to say. “Right?”

Toriel gave a small sigh, and Asriel and Chara gave each other a confused glance. “ I am sorry. Asriel, would you please wait in the other room?

Asriel, who had only just finished his plate, began to protest, but, under the stern eyes of his mother, got up from the table and reluctantly left the room.

Toriel turned her attention back to an anxious Chara. “You are human, are you not?”

Chara nodded, their bang-veiled eyes fixated at the table. Their fork had been rested on the plate of half-eaten potatoes. They felt like they were on trial in a court.

Asgore had a tired, solemn expression. “ And you are aware of the war between monsters and humans that resulted the sealing of our kind within this mountain?”

Chara nodded again. They weren’t comfortable making eye contact or speaking around the intimidatingly large adults. They wished Asriel would come back. Adults are less scary in front of their kids.

Toriel laid a gentle hand on theirs. “Chara...” There was a brush of sorrow in her eyes and it leaked into her voice. “You have fallen past the barrier. You will not be able to leave the Underground. I am sorry.”

Chara slumped a little. They had suspected that the barrier would keep monsters in, but the didn't think of the possibility that it would trap humans as well.

“It’s… it’s okay,” they choked. They hadn't planned on returning from the woods in the first place. Honestly, they had planned on living on the summit of the mountain, never returning to human civilization. Maybe they could've been happy that way, but it was all just wishful thinking now. “I… didn’t have anywhere to go, anyway.”

Both grown monsters had their paws rested on Chara now, and both of them had the same look of pity and concern etched into their face.

Asgore spoke in a deep voice. “My son said that you were attacked. I apologize, truly, but do not fear. I will announce to the monsters of the Underground that no harm is to come to you."

Toriel added, “And I will find a suitable place for you to stay. For the time being, child, you may-“

“You’ll stay with us!”

Asriel had poked his head from around the doorframe, smiling a toothy-grin.

“Asriel!” Toriel scolded. “You have been listening this entire time!”

“Maybe…” Asriel’s cheeks flushed a little under his fur at being caught.

Toriel gave a small chuckle. “Well, it is not such a bad idea, I suppose.” She leaned downward to meet Chara’s eyes. “What do you think, child?”

Chara didn’t know what to think. It had been a very long time since they had been genuinely cared for. They rubbed their forehead where Toriel had healed them, and thought about how Asriel had helped them through the ruins, smiling as he did. The Underground was a strange place, with strange people and strange experiences. They food would take some getting used to, but…

“Okay.”

 

A crimson leaf drifted to the ground at the base of the sapling.


	2. Moving Onward

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The monsters venture from Home, and meet up with old friends.

The room was filled with the aroma of butterscotch and worn fabric. A family-like smell. Chara was grateful that the older monsters had trusted them enough to let them, a complete stranger, stay in their son’s room for the night. His furniture was much better suited to Chara’s small proportions than Toriel’s bed had been. Waking up in Asriel’s room felt more like waking up after a sleepover than waking up in a giant dollhouse.

Asriel’s floppy ears dangled over the side of his bed as he peeked out from his covers. He had obviously been waiting for Chara to wake from their make-shift nest on the floor.

“Are you awake, Chara?” he whispered. He had promised to take them on a tour of Home today, and was quite eager to do so. “Good morning!”

Chara wasn’t sure how Asriel was able to discern morning from night while underground, but it was hardly the strangest thing to occur since they had agreed to stay with the monster family. Chara had discovered that although the house contained a bathroom, there was no toilet. It was _pretty_ concerning until they realized that they hadn’t needed to use one since they had fallen down. Chara decided to just roll with it.

They groggily mumbled a greeting to their early-bird friend as he arose from his bed.  
Asriel hoisted himself upright, practically vibrating with enthusiasmto start the day. His feet got tangled in the covers, and he tumbled gracelessly on top of Chara with an “Umf!”

He scrambled backward to push himself off. “S-sorry, Chara! Are you alri-“ But he was surprised to see that Chara was giggling lightly at his antics.

“Careful where you fall,” Chara teased. “You might find yourself in a pit full of humans!”

Asriel relaxed and giggled along. “That wouldn’t be so bad if they’re all like you!”

Chara's laughing stopped abruptly. “I’m _nothing_ like them,” they muttered bitterly, and changed into their freshly-washed sweater and pants. They didn’t want to be compared to the people that had left Chara behind. The thought was more than they could bear.

Asriel tensed a bit, and decided to change the subject. “W-well, you live with us now! C’mon, Dad’ll make the announcement soon!”

_______

Chara and Asriel stood out of sight on the balcony that overlooked the city. Chara hadn’t noticed before, but the monster family’s “house” was built on top of a massive, castle-like structure. Toriel spoke over the sea of monsters that had flooded in below, giving updates on the artificial weather and recent issues of dog-related burglary. She held herself formal and staid, completely undaunted by the massive size of the crowd. That was, until she handed the microphone to Asgore with a “Your turn Fluffybuns.”

The two adults flushed bright pink as the crowd erupted in burbles of laughter. Toriel laughed along, enjoying the moment like she was part of the audience herself.

Chara snickered.

Asriel groaned.

Finally, Asgore raised his hands, and the roaring died down. After the last of the snorts and chuckles were properly reigned in, he regained his formal tone and addressed the audience. “Dear citizens. Thank you for coming here today. I…” he failed to hide a sly smile, “…King Fluffybuns-“

Howling and hollering burst from the mass like water from a dam. Dogs howled, Dragons whooped, and Vegetoids cackled, all melding into a big, jolly concert. But it wasn’t the joke that had caught Chara’s attention.

_… King?_

They looked to Asriel, confused, but he just smiled back, anticipating the final announcement.

“I have something very important to say,” Asgore announced, regaining the crowd’s attention for a second time.

Chara held their breath.

After all the suffering the humans caused, how could the family take them in so willingly? What if the monsters didn’t want Chara here? The humans had doomed them to eternal imprisonment beneath the earth, not even sparing the younger monsters of punishment. Surely they wouldn’t be so quick to forget that for the sake of one kid. But Chara was trapped here too, now.

If they decided to attack… Chara would have nowhere to run.

Asriel placed a hand on Chara’s shoulder, causing them to exhale sharply, sweat dripping from their brow. He met their eyes with a reassuring gaze.

“A human child has fallen into the Underground,” Asgore continued, eyes scanning the sea that quickly filled with murmurs of confusion. “They were injured from the fall, and had to be nursed back to health. As a result, my family and I have taken them into our home. Therefore,” his eyes narrowed as his voice became serious “-should any harm come to them, the offender will be punished with the same severity of harming a monster child.”

The murmuring slowly began to dissolve, and Asgore softened his gaze. “They have stumbled into an unfamiliar place with no way out. As we are all familiar with the feeling of alienation, it is our duty to make the child feel at ease as they live their life among us monsters.”

Astonishingly, the mass seemed to mutter in agreement rather than opposition. A few monsters even bleated out a cheer. Before long, the crowd was in a full on applause, and Asgore beckoned Chara to stand beside him as he concluded the speech.

"Thank you, everyone! It is a great joy to show such kindness to someone in need without being blinded by an old grudge."

With Asgore's heavy paw on their back, Chara let themselves accept their welcome, and relaxed their stiffened shoulders. They didn’t deserve it, but under the notion that they’d have a place to call home again, it was too good to pass up.

_______

“I _may_ have forgotten to mention,” Asriel said, sheepishly tapping his index fingers together, “but Dad and Mom are the king and queen of the Underground.”

“Yeah,” Chara snorted, “kinda forgot that little detail, huh?” The two children were arranging the fallen leaves into neat rows, as Asgore had shown them. Rather than cutting down the sickly sapling, it's colorful leaves were used to adorn the Royal family's home. “Everyone seemed to take Asgore’s speech to heart, though.”

Asriel’s tour hadn’t been nearly as treacherous as Chara had thought it would be. Rather than leaping out to tackle them, they had been met with warm smiles and energetic waves. Chara did their best to smile back, but the expression was somewhat foreign to them. It ended up coming out a bit forced.

“Yeah, but Mom’s the one who wrote down what he needed to say.” Asriel made a face. “And that gushy stuff? Yeah, get used to that.”

Chara chuckled flicked their eyes to Toriel, who glided into the yard to kneel down with the two of them.

“Greetings, my children,” She said warmly. “How was your walk in the Underground?”

The two striped-shirted kids told the tales of how they ran into every store, alleyway, and corner of Home. Asriel made sure to emphasize Chara’s reaction to every bizarre monster they had come across (but how could you freak out when a pile of ooze suddenly crawls across your foot?). They pet every dog they met, and even got an apologetic croak from the Froggit that had attacked them before. But all the while, something had bothered Chara about the city.

“It was… really small. Are… these the only monsters left?”

Toriel’s gaze flittered to the leaves on the ground. “The war left its mark,” she responded wearily. “We can only hope that some managed to escape this fate.”

“Oh…” They felt insensitive for bringing up such a fragile topic. There must've been countless lives lost. It was the fault of humans that had led to the suffering of monster kind. Humans not unlike Chara. They clutched their arms together and looked away in shame.

“Do not be upset, my child. It is perfectly sensible to ask questions about your new home. Truthfully, the city has been getting rather cramped with all of the sweet children being born.” Toriel had a look of adoration in her eyes. “Perhaps it is time for all of us to move further into the caverns. We will be needing extra space for all the young souls."

Chara perked up a bit. The thought of exploring the unknown with their new family filled them with enough energy to fuel a steam engine. “Yeah, I think that might actually be fun.”

_______

Sure enough, after a few weeks of preparation, the monsters of Home ventured through a wide doorway into a chilly atmosphere.

Ice-shielded stalactites clung to the ceiling above. Chara (being without fur) and Asriel (whose coat was much thinner than his parents’) huddled together beneath Asgore’s heavy velvet cloak. It was like camping in a moving tent.

The day was spent traversing the icy cliffs and trenches. Everyone traveled lightly, leaving behind most of their furniture in favor of efficient travel supplies. The idea of leaving behind so much of the monsters' home made Chara’s heart ache. Then again, at least they had gotten to bring _any_ of their home with them this time. Chara wondered what it must've been like to be buried alive in an empty cave with nothing but the clothes on their back. Well, they supposed having magic would help.

Some monsters had taken it upon themselves to plant saplings along the way. No leaf-bearing tree would be able to survive the journey, but coniferous trees could manage.

Chara’s teeth chattered violently as they peeked out at the monsters walking ahead. Some Moldsmalls were gathered around the fire monsters to avoid freezing, while the rabbit monsters hopped onward, completely unfazed. Asgore pulled the shivering children close to his chest, and carried them for the duration of the frozen journey. To Chara’s amazement, he summoned spheres of flame that encircled them all in a glowing heat. Asriel attempted to form the sphere, too, but managed only to singe his fingertips. He gave Chara a bashful shrug.

Eventually, the temperature became more bearable. The snow melted away, revealing a blue-tinted stone floor and glimmering crystals. The ground was somewhat damp, but Toriel insisted that camp be set up for the night.

This region of the Underground became particularly dark the deeper the group had tread. It was nearly pitch black where they had come to rest. The only hint of light came from the luminous jewels above. They shone like starlight. Chara and the others all gawked at the sight. Some shed a tear or two, having missed the beauty of the night sky. Others made wishes upon the sparkling stones.

Asriel and Chara nuzzled close to Toriel as she warmed them with her fire magic. She hummed a lullaby that echoed off the dripping walls. The light snoring of her audience soon accompanied her melody and distant splashes of water on rock.

But Chara couldn’t sleep.

The rise and fall of Toriel’s breath and dimming flame couldn’t prevent a feeling of unease from blossoming in Chara’s stomach. The illuminated chamber threw ominous shadows across the slumbering bodies of their companions, and the reflection of the stream danced upon every leaking surface.

Chara could feel their heart thumping against their rib cage. They sniffled back a sneeze, and clenched Toriel’s robe in their fist, eyes darting from shadow to shadow. 

_This one is cast by a Woshua._

_And this one is tinted green because it’s cast by a Moldbygg._

_BUT THAT ONE IS MOVING!!!_

_…. No, wait. That’s just Jerry hogging the blankets._

Chara sighed. They felt silly for being afraid of the dark when their family consisted of _actual monsters._ They leaned into Asriel, whose nose gave a little twitch. Not that monster’s were particularly scary to begin with. They all seemed to care about each other so much, even Chara. Was that what Chara had longed for on the surface? They were more content with their life than they had ever been before, but they didn't really understand why. They squeezed their eyes shut and tried to figure it out.

They heard a strangled babbling noise break above the snores.

Chara jerked to attention, stirring Toriel into a half-awake state. It had come from the depths of the unlit tunnel ahead. The sound was unlike any monster sound they had encountered so far. Nausea worked its way into their throat. If the monsters weren't scary, what _was_?

They made a startled gasp when a tremendous silhouette passed before them.

It belonged to Asgore, who had placed himself, trident-raised, between his people and the tunnel. Wariness dominated his expression. Heavy footsteps could be heard, and a dark figure emerged from the echoing hall.

The mystery figure drew near, and Asgore’s eyes grew wide. He dropped his weapon, he dashed forward.

“Woah there! Say, it’s been a while, eh Asgore?”

A strange tortoise-like monster stepped into sight, and Asgore boomed in laughter, rousing groggy monsters from their sleep. “Gerson!” He held the newcomer’s shoulders in his immense paws. “How do you like that? The Hammer of Justice lives!”

Toriel rushed to join them, children in tow. There ended up being a sort of group hug as Chara’s adoptive parents embraced their old friend.

“Ha! As if anything could break this ‘ol shell!” He gave his shell a few knocks with a scaly hand. “I was _wondering_ if anyone else got thrown down here! They tossed the aquatic folk down a waterfall. Course, not all of us can swim very well. And who are these young ‘uns?”

He squinted down at Asriel and Chara with his good eye, seemingly confused by Chara in particular. Chara shifted their feet.

Toriel rested her hands on them both. “These are my and Gorey’s children, Gerson. Asriel and Chara.”

“Hmmmmmmm……” he stroked his scraggly beard pensively. “WA HA HA! So they are! And this one’s the spitting image of you two!” He ruffled Asriel’s head.

“Indeed, but I wouldn’t make the same claim for the other one.”

Everyone’s head turned. A towering man stood slightly behind Gerson, face pale as powder and clothes dyed inky-black.

“Doctor Gaster!” Asgore pulled the slender monster into a vice of a bear hug before he could protest otherwise.

“Ah- Yes, it is good to see you and your wife again, your majesty.” He gave the king an awkward pat on the shoulder. The pupils in his hollow eyes were fixed upon Chara. “Your child you said?”

Chara swallowed hard and pulled their eyes away from his cold stare. 

Toriel nodded in confirmation. Being released from Asgore’s grip, Gaster bent downward to peer at them through their bangs.

Chara thought they heard him let out a faint, amused chuckle before he straightened himself again. “It would appear that the human has developed a cold,” he diagnosed.

Chara hadn’t detected the string of mucus trailing its way down their lip. Red-faced, they sniffled and rubbed at it with their sleeve.

“You have done an excellent job healing the wound on their head, Queen Toriel. But they should really have a proper examination once monster civilization is re-established.”

“Of course!” Toriel exclaimed. “No one would know more about human health than you, Doctor! And please, just Toriel is fine. For now, however, we must reunite with our old friends.”

And with that, the horde of monsters set off with hopes of seeing the ones they had previously thought had been killed. Chara, who was still sniffling and running on no sleep, drifted off in Toriel’s arms. But they opened an eye every now and then to make sure that doctor kept his distance.

_______

“Psst… Chara… Chara!”

Asriel nudged them awake with his usual eagerness. He was bouncing in place. “Look! Look!”

Geez, it was like everyday was Christmas morning with this kid. Chara smiled as they stretched their arms and surveyed the room.

They found themselves… back at Home? No, something was different. It looked like Asriel’s bedroom, except Chara was lying in an extra bed placed against the left wall.

“…Wha?...” they said bleary-eyed.

“C’mon! You gotta see!” He tugged them to their feet and into the hall. Monsters scurried about the grayed marble floor of the corridor, each shaping and carving intricate designs into the material. It looked _exactly_ like Home.  
Chara gaped as each room was formed by bursts of magic in reds, blues, and golds.

They were still clutching the silvery blanket around them, and their bare feet strode on what actually _felt_ like a wooden floor.

“How?” they marveled.

“That’s one of the the perks of magic.” He snapped his fingers and emitted a tiny spark. “Welcome to New Home! The, um, color will come later.”

Chara watched in awe as a pair of small chairs was constructed alongside the two larger ones. They were all spread neatly around a family’s dining table.

Asriel couldn’t understand why Chara started to cry over them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert." Isaiah 43:19 (KJV)
> 
> Chapter two of what will likely be at least twenty. I feel like my writing is improving more with each chapter. I really enjoyed writing this one, and any input you can offer is a big help! In the next chapter, Chara gets a check up from the doctor.
> 
> Edit: Yeah, there's definitely going to be at least thirty chapters. I'm going to go through everything and check for grammar errors and add an extra sentence here and there to help everything flow better. If I misspell something or use a word incorrectly or something, just let me know! This is my first fan fiction and I want it to be as neat and enjoyable as I can make it. Seriously, I don't bite.... much.~


	3. Diagnosis

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Doctor Gaster makes a house call, and Chara is uneasy about what he has to tell them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Consider this a heads up. The story will be getting much darker from here on out. If you are sensitive to topics relating to suicide or death, this may not be the fan fiction for you. With that being said, please enjoy!

“I’m fine _. Really_.”

“I think not. Tori heard you up sneezing and coughing all night,” Asgore disproved. “Healing magic doesn’t normally work on human illness, Chara. A check up is necessary.”

Asriel and Toriel were out shopping for snails, (which turned out to be the secret ingredient to _all_ of Toriel’s cooking) leaving Asgore to watch over Chara while the doctor assessed their health. Chara had been avoiding this for weeks and had thrown every protest in the book at Asgore since hearing the horrifying news. But Toriel had scheduled the appointment before she left.

Doctor Gaster was on his way, whether Chara wanted him or not.

They weren’t too enthusiastic to have the creepy doctor poking and prodding at them. He never spoke to Chara directly, having only spoken _about_ them to other people. Of course, Chara never spoke to him either, but just watching him was enough for them to see that his crooked smile dripped with insincerity. He was the type who would only smile as a formality. It was a trait that Chara had thought they’d left behind in the human world.

“You have nothing to be afraid of. Gaster is an old friend of Tori’s and mine. He wouldn’t-“

There was a sharp knock at the door, and Asgore went to answer it.

Chara resisted the urge to bolt, keeping their feet cemented in the center of the grayed-out dining room.

The willowy monster trailed into the room behind Asgore as he was led in. His usual black clothes were hidden beneath a white coat, and he carried a large medical bag that poked out at odd angles. Clearly it was filled with whatever tools and vials were meant to “fix” Chara’s illness.

“Yes, this will do,” he confirmed as he surveyed the room. He pulled a small chair away from the table, and seemed to be waiting for Chara to sit. Chara glanced at Asgore, who nodded, and shuffled to set themselves before the doctor. Despite themselves, they hunched slightly under his gaze.

Gaster placed the intimidating bag on the table and began to rifle through it. He had seemed to find what he was looking for when, yet another knock was heard from the door.

A royal guard bustled in, flailing and scattering papers all throughout the room. “MajestySirYourHighness! The people have filed several recent complaints about spikes and bridges! You see- akidstubbedtheirtoeand- Oh. I’m sorry, am I interrupting something?”

Asgore flicked his eyes to Chara. “Can it not wait awhile longer?”

“The…er… People were very insistent to speak with you as soon as possible. Also, I knocked over a _truck-load_ of magic paint in one of the corridors while running here.”

“I see….” Asgore heaved out a sigh and turned to kneel beside Chara. “I am sorry, Chara, but it seems I must tend to these matters.”

“Wait, what _?_ You’re _leaving_ _?_ ” Chara had always been with one of their family members since they’d first fallen in the Underground. They had never been left alone with anyone before, and they _especially_ didn’t want to be alone during their first doctor’s appointment.

Sensing that Chara was radiating with dread, Asgore placed a giant paw on their shoulder in comfort. “You will be alright. Doctor Gaster has an expansive knowledge regarding human health. I would trust him with my very life. You have nothing to fear.” The king gave Chara a pat on the head, causing their bangs to stand at strange angles.

With a final farewell, Chara watched his cloak billow behind him as he reluctantly departed with the guard.

The front door clicked shut.

“Well then-“ Chara’s eyes snapped to Gaster who had moved to stand in front of them. He held a flickering device.

“Let’s get started, shall we?”

_______

Chara made certain to keep quiet during the examination. They answered with brevity when he asked them how they were adjusting to monster food, they touched their toes as he checked the alignment of their spine, and they didn’t flinch away when he listened to their heartbeat with his stethoscope. Now, they sat quietly as he checked over their “stats” using the strange device.

“LV:1, HP:20, AT:0, DF:0, EXP:0. Well, no surprises there.” He gave an icy chuckle. “However, there is some notable damage…” he trailed off seemingly perplexed before narrowing his eyes in sudden seriousness. His frown deepened at something on the screen.

He rummaged through his bag; a chalky hand came back up holding a needle.  
“I will need to take a blood sample. Your arm, please.”

Chara clutched their arms close to their chest and squirmed uncomfortably. Needless to say, they were not fond of needles.

“Oh come now, it will be over quickly. There is no need to make such a fuss.”

Chara hesitated, still.

“I need a sample in order to prescribe human-appropriate medication.” Gaster held out an impatient hand, needle in the other. “ _Your arm, please._ ”

Slowly extending their arm, Chara complied, allowing the doctor to take hold. The needle pricked the crook of their elbow. They gave a small shudder and tried not to look. It didn’t hurt much, but Gaster certainly hadn’t made an effort to make it seem less scary.

“Good,” Gaster sighed and stored the vial securely in his bag. “Human illness can be difficult to cure with such little remaining documents about them. You should be grateful that I have a fair understanding of internal human organs.”

Chara felt like they were going to be sick, but then the doctor would have to invade them further.

“That aside,” he continued, “I will be looking at your soul now.”

“My soul?”

Gaster didn’t provide an explanation. He swiftly waved a gesture with his hand over Chara’s chest.

Chara felt something lurch from within them, and a shiver crawled down their spine. The same heart that had emerged during the Froggit attack floated from their body, delicately coming to rest into Gaster’s outstretched palm.

Chara felt…. vulnerable.

They didn’t dare to breathe, eyes fixed on the flittering core that was in the hands of the stranger. Any sudden movement, and Chara felt as if their entire being would be shattered to pieces.

The doctor examined the heart with an ever-deepening frown, turning it over with skeletal fingers. “Tenacious little thing, aren’t you?” he inquired with a splash of disgust.

Bile rose to Chara’s throat, and they reverted to mumbling. They fumbled over their speech as they attempted to inform the cold doctor of their discomfort.

“Not so many words at once now,” Gaster huffed without looking up.

If Asriel had said this, it might’ve been funny. But the hatefully irritated tone of the doctor’s sarcasm was enough to make Chara dig their nails into the seat. They wanted this to be over. They wanted Asgore to come back, but the doctor wasn't done talking just yet.

“Your fall into the Underground should’ve killed you,” he concluded. “Rather, it _did_ kill you."

…..This didn’t make any sense.

Chara was not dead.

They’ve been living in the Underground for a few months now. They had been adopted. They helped Asgore with his gardening, Toriel taught them how to knit, and Asriel had become their best and only friend- almost like a brother.

Chara stayed silent.

“I would not expect you to understand. It is a characteristic that I first came across during the war- one second I had cut down my foe, and in the same second he was completely unharmed.”

Gaster leaned over Chara, bringing their soul closer. “You can see this characteristic in the red hue of the soul. This is _anti-termination_ , the primary reason the war was lost without acquiring a single soul.” The fingers that held the soul twitched.

“w-Why did you want a soul?” Chara swallowed.

“Ah,” Gaster’s voice was laced with his contempt for humanity. “You are aware that we were all damned to this vile pit, correct? In order to destroy the barrier, certain… _keys_ are required.”

His fingers curled around the paralyzed heart like claws.

“ **SEVEN HUMAN SOULS**.” Gaster’s hollow eyes bore into Chara. The black holes drained every light from their vision, as if trying to suck them in.

Chara went pale and sweat rolled down their head. Their chest felt heavy and their movements slowed. It felt like they were being pulled closer and closer to the grotesque features of the doctor. Their eyes were locked to his reaper-like sockets. Static rang through their ears as he opened his jagged mouth.

The front door clicked open.

The only evidence of whatever had just happened was Chara’s rigidly terrified expression. The heart had dissipated and Chara clutched the fabric that covered their chest. Gaster straightened to face the king as he entered the house.

Asgore looked disheveled and was breathing in short bursts.

“Huff… Sorry. I did my best to get back as soon as I could.”

And Chara was very thankful that he did. They gave him a strained smile.

‘There is no need for apology, your Majesty. I’ve just finished,” Gaster assured with a calm voice. “The child’s illness is mild, for now. I will be sending some medicine within the next few days.”

Chara wasn’t so sure that the doctor wouldn’t try and poison them. But if Asgore found out, Gaster could be sure that he would be in for a world of hurt. But Gaster was the Royal Scientist. He was smarter than that. He wasn’t dumb enough to try and kill Chara with Asgore as a witness. Was he just trying to scare them?

“Yes, thank you, Gaster.” Asgore nodded as the deceitful monster strode to the exit.

But he paused to turn and look down at the child that was glued to the chair.

“Take care of yourself, Chara, or someone else will have to do it for you- And you don’t want to cause anyone’s suffering. Do you understand?” He smirked with his arms folded behind him.

Chara looked down and nodded. They understood. “ _You are the cause of everyone’s suffering. Give up your soul, or it will be taken by force._ ”

_______

It had just occurred to Chara that Asgore was wearing the sweater they had knit him. They had been unsure if they were comfortable calling him “Dad” at the time, so “Mr. Dad Guy” was what ended up on the shirt. He wore it like a badge of honor. Chara peeled themselves from their chair and sat on the floor beside the sweater-wearing king. He was humming an unfamiliar tune as he pruned away at an overgrown ficus with an old gardening knife.

They thought about telling Asgore what had happened, but what would change? Gaster wasn’t wrong. Chara had at least part of the key to the monsters’ freedom- Asgore’s, Toriel’s, Asriel’s…. everyone’s. And what would Chara even say? “ _Gaster told me the truth, but he was really scary about it, please don’t let him kill me?_ ”

Maybe Chara was just scared that Gaster wouldn’t be the only one out to get their soul.

“…Dad?” They were going to do it. They were just going to ask him.

“Mmm?”

They glanced at the blade in his hands. If Chara had to lose their soul, they would rather have it taken by Asgore than Gaster.

“I-if-“ They couldn’t stop themselves from shaking. “If you took my soul, would you be able to free everyone from the Underground?”

The humming ceased. Asgore gave Chara a look of shock. After a few seconds of staring, he set the knife out of sight and pulled Chara into a gentle embrace.

Chara wasn’t sure when they had started crying.

“Chara…” His words caught in his throat. “Who told you-…….?”

Their voice caught, and they couldn’t respond.

“….No. Taking your soul wouldn’t be enough to free anyone. It would take six _more_ human souls to destroy the barrier,” he reassured. “And even if six humans found their way into the Underground, what freedom would be worth the price of my own child?”

They choked back a sob, bunching his sweater in their fists and burying their face into the wool.

He rubbed circles into their back, holding them gingerly. “I promise, I will not let anyone harm you. You are a part of this family. Time is needed to heal monster’s hatred of humanity. Chara,” he lifted their face to wipe away their tears, “I believe that you will be able to help bridge the gap between the two races someday.”

Chara smiled weakly through their tear-clouded eyes.

_______

The two sat on the floor saying nothing until the remaining half of the family returned from their shopping trip.

Asgore gave Chara a pat as they stood. The tears stopped flowing, but Chara guessed that their cheeks were probably still ruddy.

Toriel and Asriel hauled in several grocery bags, one of which contained chocolate (Chara was gonna need that). They met Chara with a “Greetings” and a “Howdy”.

“Greetings,” Chara echoed. It was weird, but surely it suited them better than howdy. They just couldn’t pull it off like Asgore or Asriel could.

Toriel beamed, but was concerned that their cold had made their face turn color from fever. Chara assured their kindhearted mother, once again, that they were fine and dismissed themselves to a walk outside the castle.

They had to stop in bewilderment in the corridor that had accidentally been doused in several cans of magical paint. The soft yellows that had been meant for the castle’s interior had coated the hall in an over-saturation of gold. It was the most beautiful room Chara had ever seen, and it had all happened through what seemed to have been an accident.

It could’ve been that the gray walls of New Home had surrounded Chara long enough to make them forget how beautiful colors could be. Not that Chara was complaining. They knew the paint was hard to make, therefore was only used indoors. Heck, the ruins had been completely purple.

To top it off, this was one of the few areas in the Underground that was reached by sunlight. It filtered in through the windows, causing the walls to shimmer in a way that reminded Chara of the flowers of their hometown on the surface.

The surface.

Chara’s face fell. A few birds had flown past the barrier and become trapped, yet sang beautifully despite everything. Chara wished they could be like the birds, and they couldn’t help but miss the view of the sky. Any view of the opening had to be closed off, otherwise, monsters would drive themselves to madness trying to reach it. They would desperately throw themselves at the barrier in a vain attempt to break free.

**Anditwasalltheirfaul-**

_No._

There was nothing Chara could do about it. They had to stop thinking the way Gaster wanted them to. They couldn’t stand that man. The way he despised Chara simply for being human, the falseness of his crooked smile, the way he made their blood boil. They wished they hadn’t let him scare them. They wished they could’ve given _him_ a scare.

Apart from Gaster, all the monsters were impossibly nice. Chara suspected that if they killed someone they’d just get a slap on the wrist as punishment… They were disgusted at themselves for thinking that.

They caught a glance of their reflection in the stained glass. A forced smile and contempt for the humanity that had forsaken them grinned crookedly back.

“ _Hypocrite,_ ” it said.

Chara wished with all their heart that they could be as optimistic and genuine as Asriel was. He was just like the birds. What did he have that Chara did not? They remembered his wide smile from when he had first suggested that Chara live with the monster family. Chara focused hard, trying to replicate every detail of his cheerful, caring expression. They could practically feel his innocence around them with every adjustment they made to their face. They put on the widest smile they could muster.

“AAHHHH!!!!”

Chara jerked their head to Asriel and nearly fell over in the process.

“What kind of face was _that_?!??” Asriel shrieked.

Chara turned to look back at their reflection and- oh wow. That _was_ terrifying.

“I was, uh… trying to imitate you???”

Asriel looked dumbfounded, then snorted. Pretty soon, the two were lying on the sun-streaked tile, laughing until their stomachs ached.

“Haha, okay, okay. Are you ready? Do the creepy face!” Asriel bleated.

Chara put all their strength into making this next one twice as horrific as the last. But this time, Asriel was holding up an old video camera.

“AHHH!!!!” Asriel’s screams quickly melted into laughter. “Oh! Aw, wait- I left the lens on.”

Chara just smiled and shook their head. “I’m not doing that on camera, doofus.” They stuck their tongue out for good measure. Nobody needed to see that Chara was completely incapable of forming a pure smile. Asriel was greatly disappointed, but Chara said they’d make it up to him by playing a game of catch in the garden before helping Toriel with dinner. The duo got so dirty, they could’ve made a Woshua faint.

"Hey, Asriel. Guess what's better than a mud pie?"

_______

_Nonononono_

Asriel was wailing.

Toriel was in a frenzy trying to keep Asgore from collapsing in pain. Vomit seeped into the floor.

**_ALLYOURFAULTALLYOURFAULTALLYOUR-_ **

Chara shut themselves in their room while the family waited for the doctor to arrive.

He had been _right_ about them. All they could do was laugh to try and block out their shame.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "For if thou altogether holdest thy peace at this time, then shall there enlargement and deliverance arise to the Jews from another place; but thou and thy father's house shall be destroyed: and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?" Esther 4:14 (KJV)
> 
> Whew! This chapter was a little longer than the last two. Feel free to give feedback on the pacing or anything. The next few chapters will be out every other week because it's the time to study for tests and I don't want to rush the writing. Thanks for reading!
> 
> If you played the game, well... You know what has to happen next.


	4. Wilting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everything goes wrong.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TRIGGER WARNING. Seriously. On all of this. The entire work. 
> 
> If you choose to read anyway, just know that, no matter what, you are loved. Don't listen to the rude voices in your head, they are butts. Without further ado, enjoy this very long chapter.

Asgore was going to be okay. The ‘ol softie was much too large for the buttercups to be life threatening. After he had finally settled into a comfortable snooze, Toriel had done her best to assure the children that it was an accident and not their fault. She even made a pun about confusing flour with flowers, but guilt still ate away at Chara like a swarm of termites.

Toriel was insistent that the kids learn of the dangers of eating strange plants. She gathered every botany book in the house, (that’s like 5,000 encyclopedias when the gardener also happens to be the king) and dumped them all on the dining room table. She always found some way to turn the worst situations into an opportunity for learning.

Asriel and Chara flipped through the pages to see who could identify the most plants in the house. Asriel was winning because Chara was lost in the pictures of the flowers. Maybe they could grow their own someday. That is, if Asgore allowed them have access to vomit-inducing flora ever again. Asriel guarantees he will.

“He may be the king,” he said, “but his garden is open to everyone. Sometimes, he takes flowers to the schools or hospitals.”

“You have schools in the Underground?” Chara asked. Toriel had been homeschooling the two of them. They learned everything that Asriel learned, aside from magic.

“Um DUH. What, did you think monsters just grow up knowing how magic works? Or the history of monsterkind? I’m sure you’ve seen one before…”

“Eh. Probably.” They shrugged. “I just didn’t think about it since we don’t go to one.”

“Oh, I get it now. Fun fact- Mom would’ve been a teacher if she hadn’t become the queen.”

“That’s not surprising.” Chara eyed the mountain of books piled before them and scratched their head. “What are you gonna be when you get older? Are you going to be king?”

Asriel flushed scarlet. “I-I don’t know? I’m supposed to be, but I don’t know if I would do a good job…”

“What? Come on, who would be a better king than you? You’re practically a miniature Asgore,” Chara paused, “with less beard and horns.”

“It’s not the horns that matter!” Asriel wrinkled his nose and covered his hornless head with a book. “It’s… I don’t have… Dad… can talk to people _so easily_. I go out with Mom on errands, but I just can’t make any _real_ friends.”

That stung a little. Chara supposed that being homeschooled on top of being a somewhat timid prince would be enough to stunt anyone’s friend quantity. He had never invited anyone over, he’d only played with Chara. They were ashamed that they didn’t notice their friend was bothered by this. It was so _selfish_ of them.

“Hey… You’re _my_ friend, aren’t you? Who else do you need?” Chara posed with false pride. Asriel let out a snort. “Heck, you _saved my life_. If that isn’t the sign of the best king ever then I don’t know what is.”

Asriel gave them a sniffling smile.

_Oh gosh, here come the water works._

Chara had to put a stop to the mush before it got contagious. “Quick- whatever plant you flip to determines your personality!”

Asriel snapped to attention and selected a page at random.

“I got a heart-shaped flower,” he chimed signifying that the faucets in his eyes had been turned off. “Boy, that name is _way_ too complicated. It comes in reds and whites, each with a different meaning- mostly about love and dying or whatever. Ugh.” His face scrunched up. “And you thought buttercups made people puke.”

Chara laughed despite it still being a touchy topic. Looking at the picture on the page, a question popped up in their mind.

“What is a soul?”

“Hmm? Oh. Yeah, I guess they do kinda look like souls if you turn them upside down.”

“Whaddaya mean upside down?”

“You know-,” Asriel turned the book around and pointed at the white flower. “-like that.”

Chara shook their head. “That’s a joke right?” They turned the book upright and pointed to the red flower. “ _That’s_ what a soul looks like.”

“ _No it doesn’t._ Grr, fine! I’ll show you! Souls aren’t really supposed to be outside the body, but you’re lucky that I’m a special case!”

Asriel cupped his paws over his chest, causing a faint glow to emit from the gaps in his fingers. He pulled his hands away, and a white heart fluttered along with them. “See?” he justified. It really did look the way he described- upside down and all.

Chara poked at their own chest confused. “Mine didn’t look like that.” They pouted at their failure to summon the soul.

“You saw _yours_?” Asriel looked shocked for a moment. He scratched his head in deep thought. “ _Oh yeah._ I forgot that mom said human souls can stay outside their bodies. I’d never really had any reason to know that,” he giggled. “I actually forgot you were a human for a second.”

Chara took that as a compliment.

“I don’t think you’ll be able to call out your own soul- It’s a monster thing” He raised a tentative hand. “Do you want me to…?”

Chara shuddered as they envisioned deathly-white claws enclose them in a confining grasp. They forced the thought away. Asriel wouldn’t hurt them, they knew that, but they had only bad memories when it came to having their soul outside of them.

Still… Maybe a good memory could overwrite the bad ones?

Chara gave a small nod, and allowed Asriel to poke their torso with a ‘boop’.

The flickering red heart came forth, but didn’t leave Chara with the unbearable sense of anxiety that it had before. The only difference was that their heart of flesh had quickened it’s beating.

“Oh!” Asriel exclaimed with even more giggling. “I guess we were both right, huh? But yeah, that’s your soul! The very column-cloomnim-cl…” He let out a frustrated huff. “It’s the core of your being- It’s you!”

The children watched the souls with curiosity. They glided around in a sort of dance, seeming to be drawn to each other. The white soul began to sputter, and Asriel released his hold on the souls with haste, sending them back to their hosts.

“Are you okay?” Chara shot Asriel a worried glance. They didn’t want to be the one to blame for harming their friend _and_ poisoning their adoptive father in the same week.

“Yeah, I just can’t keep my soul out for very long.” Asriel winced, but gave Chara a thumbs up. “Besides, I just remembered that monsters have the ability to absorb human souls. I don’t know how it’s done, but I don’t wanna absorb you by accident.”

This news was… unsettling. _Really_ unsettling. Is that what he, the doctor, had meant when he said Chara’s soul would be taken? That he was not going to simply remove a key part of them resulting in certain death, but that he was going to _eat it_ and fuse their very core into his, rendering them trapped with the doc for all time.

Chara wanted to faint and dream of their life before they had ever met W.D Gaster.

“Are _you_ okay?” Asriel waved a hand in front of Chara’s eyes. They could only guess that the look on their face could be associated with severe nausea and horror movies. “I wouldn’t hurt you, not ever! I promise.”

“I know… I trust you more than anyone else.” Chara gave him a pathetic smile. “Honestly though, if I had to be absorbed by anyone, I’d want it to be you.”

Asriel was taken aback. “Not Dad?”

“Nope.”

“Not Mom?”

“Nu-uh.”

“Wow…” He looked like he was going to tear up again.

“Uh… Let’s see which plant defines _my_ personality.” Chara flipped their book open and landed on a water sausage. Asriel nearly died laughing.

“Wha- no! Let me do that again! This book is broken!” They flipped ferociously through the pages. “If these books had the flowers from my hometown I’d have landed on them for sure!”

Asriel stopped his howling for long enough to breathe. “I’d like to see those flowers someday.” He wiped jovial tears from his eyes. “But I don’t know what could fit you better than a sausage!”

Chara stuck their tongue out through a smirk and made a heart shape with their hands. Asriel beamed from ear to floppy ear and did the same, but with the inverted shape.

“Wait a second!” Chara pointed at the last houseplant in need of identification. “Water sausage! I win!”

“What! No way!”

The two bickered good-heartedly. Neither of them noticed the shadow watching from the window.

_______

Chara had tried to put the doctor’s threat out of mind for the next several weeks. Worrying about it only gave them nightmares. They thought there was a chance that he wouldn’t actually _do_ anything. The cold medicine had turned out to be just that- cold medicine. He stopped by the castle every now and then to talk with their parents, but Chara hadn’t spoken with him since the appointment. He told the adults that he was kept busy with a contraption called the Core.

It had been stupid to think all of Chara’s problems would go away on their own.

They slammed the front door behind them and leaned against it to catch their breath while sweat dripped from their body like rain. A Madjick had cut them off from their walk and chased them throughout the city, terrorizing them with a barrage of whizzing bullets. It had been the third time that their soul had been exposed without their consent.

“Chara?”

Chara flinched and looked up to see Toriel kneeling down to their level.

“My child, why are you so out of breath?”

_Tell her. Tell SOMEONE._

“I _*hff*_ was just going _*hfff*_ for a jog.”

It felt like their throat was filled with tar and glass. Why couldn’t they just tell her? Did they really think they could ignore the threats forever? That they could handle it on their own?

Did they think they deserved it?

Toriel bought the lie, but urged Chara to go to bed early after a quick shower. They were left in the dark to mull over the forbidding thought that reared its ugly head for the first time since they had fallen. It was the same thought that had brought them to the chasm in the first place.

**You bring trouble wherever you go. No wonder no one wanted to take care of you.**

_But Toriel-_

**Is completely oblivious to what’s been happening to you. You didn’t even TRY to open up to her.**

_Asgore-_

**Almost DIED because of you.**

_Asriel-_

**Is desperate for REAL friends.**

_………._

**You’ve already died once- a second time should be easy.**

_NO._

Chara shoved their head under their pillow in a vain attempt to block out their own thoughts. They had a feeling they wouldn’t get much sleep tonight.

Eventually, the door opened and Asriel tiptoed into the room giggling to himself. Expecting them to be asleep by now, he didn’t notice when Chara rolled over to see what he was doing. He was writing on a thick packet of paper.

“Whatcha got there?”

Asriel yelped and dropped what appeared to be an ordinary calendar.

Chara could just make out a date circled on it before it was snatched back up in panic. Whatever it was, it would happen three months from now.

“Nothing!” Asriel proclaimed in the most convincing of ways. “Goodnight!”

Chara smiled at their dorky friend as he climbed into the bed across the room. “Goodnight, Asriel.”

He had already begun to fake-snore. Chara wanted to close their eyes, but the anxiety of being attacked in their sleep was far too potent for any resting to be done. Meanwhile, the biting thoughts kept them wishing they could be anyone but themselves.

They sat up in defeat and decided to wait out the night watching Asriel from afar. They found more comfort in counting their wishes than their problems, even if that wouldn’t make them feel better either.

_If only this could just be over already… If only I could just be blissfully unaware of everything like he can. If only-…._

If only……..?

A new thought took root in Chara’s head.

\------- 

Chara’s eyes drooped as they spent the morning making sloppy macaroni art in Asgore’s garden. They had been trying to make a buttercup for him as an apology card, but it ended up looking more like the golden flower that Chara couldn’t seem to get off their mind.

They had been spending their sleepless nights reading Toriel’s books on monster souls, learning anything they could about the barrier and soul absorption. If they weren’t able to sleep, why not get to work on their new plan?

Chara was about to give up on their pasta creation and take a nap right there in the middle of the flowers when Asriel bustled in with the video camera.

“Howdy, Chara!” he hollered with a wave. “Smile for the camera!”

With some effort, Chara turned from their spot in the sun to give the camera what they hoped would pass as a bright and cheery not-at-all-sleep-deprived grin. No one else needed to know about the chaos rampaging inside their head.

“Ha! This time _I_ got _you!_ ” His mischievous smirk made a comeback. “I left the cap on… _on purpose!_ Now you’re smiling for noooo reason!” He erupted in triumphant chuckles, leaving Chara stupefied that he was able to pick up on their fake-smiling so easily.

Asriel was the only one who had been able to see that they were just pretending for the sake of presentation. Chara turned to hide a _real_ smile. This is why he was the only one who’d get to know about their plan.

“Hey… Remember how buttercups are toxic to eat?”

“What?” He spotted the macaroni monstrosity. “Oh, yeah, I remember. When we tried to make butterscotch pie for Dad, right?”

_No backing out. I have to stay strong._

“-We made Mom really upset. I should’ve laughed it off like you did… Um, anyway, where are you going with this?”

“Turn of the camera for a bit, okay?”

“Huh? Turn off the camera…? Okay?” Asriel fiddled with the buttons until the red light went off.

“So listen… I’ve been reading up on soul absorption and I think I know a way to get rid of the barrier!” Chara tried to sound enthusiastic, but their voice shook slightly.

Asriel’s eyes grew wide and he rushed closer to Chara. “You _WHAT_? How- how?!” He looked like he wanted to grab Chara by the shoulders.

“Supposedly, a monster that absorbs a human soul should be able to cross over to the surface.”

“But… If you lose your soul…” Asriel eyed the macaroni flower and recoiled. “I-it wouldn’t work, anyway! That would only free _one_ monster! And I’m pretty sure you only have one soul-”

“ _You_ , Asriel. I want to free _you_.”

He recoiled further, mouth agape. “I-I don’t…”

Chara grabbed him by the shoulders and gave him their widest grin. “ _Think about it!_ There are _plenty_ of human souls out there. We go out, get six more, and set everyone free! And the best part is- we won’t ever have to be apart! I can give you the confidence to rule over monsters _and_ humans! We’ll be heroes, Asriel!” They waited eagerly for him to agree, but he _still_ looked petrified. He let the camera drop from his hands.

“I… I don’t like this idea, Chara,” he whimpered like he was about to cry again.

Chara frowned. How could he be so blind?! It was the _perfect_ plan- one that would free Chara from being alone, or attacked, or looked down upon by anyone ever again!

“Are you a _crybaby_ , Asriel?” Chara had never insulted him to his face before, but they were running out of options at this point. If he wouldn’t take their soul, they didn’t think they’d be able to stay sane if it was taken by anyone else.

“Wh… what? N-no, I’m not-“

“Because you _know_ big kids don’t cry- especially not kings. Besides, I won’t _really_ die. I’ll be with you!”

Asriel paused in thought, implying that Chara was getting through to him. “Big kids don’t cry,” he echoed. “Yeah, you’re right…”

Chara was both delighted and terrified! “I _knew_ you had it in you! We should do it as soon as possible- you won’t doubt me, _will you?_ ”

“No!” A fire began to burn in his eyes and he tried to psych himself up. “I’d never doubt you, Chara. Never! Y…yeah! We’ll be strong! We’ll free everyone! I’ll go get the flowers.”

Asriel crossed to the other side of the garden to the bed of buttercups. Chara needed to stop their hands from shaking or Asriel might change his mind out of senseless pity. This was it- the best possible outcome for everyone. They couldn’t afford to screw it up.

Asriel returned with an entire bouquet. He was shaking too. Chara told him it would be okay.

One by one, Chara ate their fill of the deadly flower.

_______

_Suck it, old man._

Chara had thrown up on the good doctor’s sleeve when he had attempted to examine their throat. He was less than pleased.

“I’m afraid I have never seen anything like this before,” he lied blatantly, having treated Asgore for the same poison all that time ago. “The best you can do for them right now is to keep them comfortable. Give them one of these pills if they experience any extreme discomfort.”

_Ah, THERE’S the poisoned medicine._

Toriel handed him a towel to wipe off his coat before he got up to leave. “I understand that a human child must be difficult to treat, but… a-are you certain? You cannot help them?” her voice broke, but Gaster just shook his head, stepping out the door. Despite being in his thirties, his eyes looked aged from tribulation. “Ah, I s-see… Thank you, Doctor **G** aS **tE** r.”

Chara’s ability to hear faded in and out, unsure if the doctor’s name had been spoken at all.

They had thought this method would be fast and painless- like putting themselves to sleep.

It wasn’t.

The pain was _unbearable_. Their entire body felt like it was dipped in acid, and their face was permanently flushed with fever. Sweat continuously seeped into their clothes, their stomach felt like it was dissolving, speaking sent needles down their throat- even a yes or no nod took its toll.

Toriel gave them the medicine, which was surprisingly helpful, and sat by their bed as they fell in and out of sleep- only waking to choke up water and blood. Once they awoke long enough to see Asriel and Asgore had joined her, each of them holding a wrapped box. The video camera was rested on the nightstand with the red light turned off.

“S-surprise, Chara,” Asriel said when he realized they were conscious. He wasn’t sure whether to shout or whisper. “I thought it would be fun to celebrate that’s it’s been a full year since you came to the Underground. I-I mean- it won’t be a full year for a couple more months, but…”

“We want to show you how much you mean to us as a part of the family,” Asgore finished for his son. “But you cannot open your presents like this. So please, you must recover soon.”

Chara gave a frail smile and a cough of appreciation. If only they could tell their parents that, once this was all over, they would be better than ever.

Toriel brushed their bangs out of their face. “Is there anything you need, my child?” She tried to give them a bittersweet smile.

Chara mustered all their strength into lifting their hand to point at the wall. A scrawl of a golden flower was hung there after Chara had a particularly restless night. They coaxed their voice from the depths of their wavering existence. “I want… to see the flowers from my hometown on the surface….”

Toriel gave Asgore a distressed look. He shook his head and put a weary arm around her. She covered her mouth to stifle a sob. They couldn’t do it. They couldn't go to the surface to get a flower for their dying child.

Chara had become dreadfully tired from their effort. They closed their eyes, signaling to Toriel that they wanted rest. She urged Asgore and Asriel out of the room, but Asriel hung back to gaze at Chara with tear-filled eyes. It made Chara chuckle, which sounded like they were choking on gravel.

“Asriel… Don’t you have anything better to do?”

_______

“Chara?”

…

“Chara, can you hear me? We want you to wake up now, please.”

…

“Chara! You have to stay determined! You can’t give up! You are the future of humans and monsters.”

…

“Psst… Chara… Please… Wake up… I don’t like this plan anymore. I… I…”

“…”

“No, I said… I said I’d never doubt you. Six, right? We just have to get six… And we’ll do it together, right?”

….

……………

……………………………

They woke up with the beat of an inverted heart.

He opened his eyes and put a hand to his chest.

Asriel blinked and looked up at the horror-stricken faces of his parents. Toriel had covered her mouth with both hands, and Asgore had an arm midway extended to his son.

“…..Chara?” Asriel called.

‘ _Greetings, Asriel!_ ’ a voice reverberated from within.

“CHARA! _Chara- You’re okay!_ ”

“A-Asriel what-“ Toriel forgot how to speak, her voice was muffled from grief and shock.

“I’m- it’s okay!” Asriel found himself saying. “He- I can do it now! I can take Chara to the flowers!”

Asriel’s leg took a stumbling step forward like it had a mind of its own. Toriel caught him by the arms and steadied him. He felt strangely off balance. He looked down at his feet. They seemed to be farther away than normal, and his head felt heavy. He reached up and brushed against two, small bumps protruding from his head.

He whirled around to the mirror on the interior door of the children’s closet to see just what he had turned into. He had _horns_ \- and he looked like a _teenager_.

“Hee hee… Haha… HAHAHA!!” Laughing felt so strange! It shouldn’t- his friend was alive, and he had _horns_. He would have to change out of the tight fitting sweater before leaving. Oh, if only his parents knew about their plan to save them all. Asriel wanted to tell them.

‘ _No._ ’

“No?” Asriel place one hand on his head and the other on his chest and stared at the mirror.

‘ _Don’t tell them I’m here. I don’t want to be… It’s better if they think it’s just you_ ,’ the voice decided. ‘ _Now. Let’s get to work._ ’

Asriel furrowed his brow, but allowed Chara to approach the bed without a word to their parents. He looked down at the body of his best friend who now lived within him.

‘ _Just like a hermit crab sheds its shell_ ,’ they assured.

Asriel felt a chill down his spine. He peered at his former friend and met their dull red eyes. He wanted to cry, but the tears wouldn’t come. Instead, he shut his friend’s eyes for them.

 _They’re not dead,_ he had to tell himself. _They’re here with me._

‘ _Right. And now-_ ’ Asriel found himself taking Chara’s body into his arms. They were awfully light. ‘ _\- We go to the surface to get the souls._ ’

 _Wouldn’t it be easier to say I’m going to bring the flowers back here?_ There was no need to talk to his ‘dead’ friend aloud and further upset his parents.

‘ _Just trust me._ ’ Asriel felt a sharp grin split across his face.

“Asriel…?”

The smile had vanished as quick as it had come. Asriel’s attention was wrenched from his inner thoughts.

Toriel placed her hand on his shoulder. Her eyes were fixed upon the forms of her children, but didn’t appear to see them. Asgore, too, appeared to be in a sort of dazed state.

“It’s okay, Mom.” Arms too full to put his hand on hers, he leaned his cheek against it. “I’m going to… carry out Chara’s last request. They wouldn’t want you to be sad, so please don’t cry.”

With one final and tearful embrace between the three of them, Asriel adjusted his hold on his friend, and set out for the barrier.

________

A tingling sensation like static electricity danced up Asriel’s body as he fought his way past the barrier. He kept a tight hold on Chara for fear that the wall of magic might reject their passing. Finally the static subsided, and Asriel had to squint through the blinding light of the overworld.

It was warm- not sweltering like the lava in Hotland. And it came from above- an endless orange nothingness seemed to stretch out on all sides. Asriel shuddered, suddenly feeling very small.

‘ _It’s the sun… and that’s the sky… I missed the sky so much._ ’

Water streamed down Asriel’s face. He set Chara’s body on the solid ground of the cliff and took a seat. He couldn’t take his eyes off the view. A vast forest was spread out at the base of the mountain, all bathed in light from the golden ‘sunset’. The air was unlike anything that Asriel had ever breathed before, taking in the powerful waves of wind from the top of Mount Ebott. Joy bubbled up inside his chest. He wanted to dance and twirl in the newfound beauty.

A giggle that didn’t belong to him escaped his mouth. ‘ _Despite looking older, you still act like a little kid_ ,’ Chara said even though they were just as gleeful as he was. ‘ _We’re going to rule it all. No one will ever be abandoned or stuck under a mountain- We’re all going to live here together, Asriel!_ ’ They used Asriel’s magic to shoot a mini firework show into the air. They felt powerful.

“Yeah…” His eyes were full of stars. “It might take some getting used to having you in my head, though.” His hand traced the cracks in the rock beneath him. “Why didn’t you want to tell Mom and Dad?”

Chara stayed silent and watched the birds soaring overhead until they finally said ‘ _I’d rather be you. I don’t want anyone to treat you like they did me._ ’

Asriel didn’t understand, but an emotion unfit for the once hypnotic view was roused in the back of his mind. He decided not to exasperate it. Chara could tell him when they were ready. Then, he could tell Chara just how much he loved having them as a part of his family. Not just him, but his parents, and all the other monsters too. They had given them all so much hope for peace, and now that hope was being realized. There would be plenty of time for Chara to realize that once they set everyone free. So, for now, he would be patient with them.

“So… When we get the souls, will I have seven voices in my head?” Neither of them were too keen with that idea. Two’s company- eight’s a crowd.

‘ _Maybe we can just take ‘em out later… or tell them to shut up_.’

“We might have to wait a while for… Y’know, for the souls to be... just souls. We might have to share one body for _years_.”

‘ _You really wanna wait that long?_ ’

“I guess we can always go back through the barrier while we wait. The humans can send a letter when a soul is ready to be absorbed.”

‘ _Yeah… Hey, let’s get going. We don’t want to be walking in the dark._ ’

“Right.”

Chara’s body was cold now, like it had never had a fever at all. Asriel lifted it into a piggyback and held it close as he made his way down the mountain.

By the time Asriel had reached the edge of the human village, the sun had vanished, staining the dilapidated buildings in a bronze haze. He hadn’t seen any humans, yet. He followed Chara’s directions to the flowers.

“You really lived here?”

‘ _Kind of. I don’t really know the people here. I spent most of my time indoors- turn right, here- and when I wasn’t doing that, I explored the forest._ ’

“Did you miss it?”

‘ _Take another right when you get to that stop sign._ ’

“…Okay.”

There they are.

The flowers thrived beautifully in the overgrown bed. Asriel’s eyes glistened. They were like a hundred tiny sunsets waving happily in the breeze. No wonder Chara loved them. He laid their body to rest atop the bed, but caught movement in the corner of his eye.

‘ _Finally. I was wondering where they were._ ’

An unseen voice let out a scream. Then, several shouts began to join it.  
Human shadows moved past the dusty windows, then spilled from the doors. They began to pool around Asriel, each whispering with hands clutching iron and raised against him.

“H-howdy....”

Asriel wanted to run.

‘ _Stand your ground. We need those souls._ ’

Asriel clenched his fists.

“Hey, monster!” A man stepped forward. “You kill this kid?”

Asriel would’ve been intimidated by the man’s fiery eyes alone, but his hands wielded something much more frightening. A loaded revolver was aimed directly at his racing heart.

“Wh-wait! N-no! I came from behind the barrier! I just wa-“

One of the figures swung at him with the diagonal slash of a kitchen knife. It caught the edge of his arm. He yelped, but more so from fear than pain.

“Are you really going to converse with this _beast_?” the human snarled. “They were sealed away _for a reason_.”

“And that reason,” a woman adjusted her glasses and spoke, “was that they threatened to rob mankind of their souls. So tell us, demon. Why have you come here?”

Asriel couldn’t speak. He couldn’t move. All he could do was cower.

“ _I_ know why!” another hostile stranger yelled out. “You can tell from the markings on its face! It already _ate_ the kid’s soul!”

Shrieks of outrage exploded. The humans launched themselves at the trembling beast.

“W-wait! It’s not—“ he choked out a gasp as someone slammed into his back. A flurry of ferocious attacks hit him from every side. His stomach was kicked, and his face was beaten. He wasn’t given a drop of mercy. He crumpled to the ground and shielded his face from the assault of a blunted weapon.

‘ _Get up, Asriel! Fight back!_ ’

_Chara!_

He had to get to his friend! He gritted his teeth and squinted past the storm of stomping feet. Chara’s body lay trampled among the crushed petals. He lunged towards them, sending a spray of seeds in all directions.

Something cracked over the side of his head, but he staggered to regain a standing position with Chara limp in one arm. He charged his way past the stampede of angry hands ripping and tearing at every inch of his body.

_I’ve got you, Chara! I’ve got you, It’s oka-_

Asriel felt the fingers of his free hand burn. It raised and directed itself toward the human with the knife.

“NO!” Asriel yelled and forced the multicolored beam into the sky. The air around it turned to smoke. The humans retreated a few steps from the shock of the blast. They waited in anticipation for the beast to attack.

_Chara, no! You can’t attack them! If you do- we’ll never be able to bring peace between humans and monsters!_

‘ _Fine, I won’t, but YOU will! They’re just humans, it’s not like they’re monsters. They don’t matter- they don’t care!_ ’

_Chara, they’re ALIVE._

‘ _Snails are alive. Listen, humans are completely devoid of compassion- they’re HOPELESS. They didn’t care about me when they left me to die, and they certainly didn't care about monsters when they stuck you all under that rock!_ ’

The humans grew tired of waiting, and regained the nerve to attack. A blow took out Asriel’s shoulder with a snap. He cried out, nearly dropping Chara. He switched their weight to his other arm and sprinted for the edge of town.

 _If they don’t care about you, then why are they attacking me?_ Chara didn’t seem to be listening. Their rage bristled against Asriel’s skull.

‘ _I KNEW it! I KNEW you wouldn’t have the guts to fight, but I thought you’d at least TRY out of self defense._ ’

Suddenly, the pieces fell together, and Asriel looked down at the corpse in his arms.

_You… You wanted them to attack me…?_

‘ _You can’t have change without a revolution, Asriel. We’ll get those souls and become powerful enough to shape an ideal world!_ ’

Asriel suppressed a surge of electricity threatening to unleash upon his flailing attackers. Several bullets and daggers whizzed by, only narrowly missing. “Chara, I can’t _do this._ I can’t hurt them, even if they hurt us! They have _families_ , Chara! You were one of them!”

**Were.**

‘ _Don’t be such an IDIOT, Asriel! You said you wouldn’t doubt me!_ ’

He had made it into the woods, limping through the trees to lose his remaining pursuers. He was nearly to the mountainside.

“Wh… What are we gonna tell Mom and Dad?"

...

"Chara?"

‘ _Shh! Listen._ ’

Asriel obeyed. There was a rustling noise coming from behind him. Asriel peeked over his good shoulder to catch a glimpse of the man with the fiery eyes.

‘ _He doesn’t know you heard him, yet. We can still get a soul out of this!_ ’

_There’s got to be a better way!_

‘ _They’ll kill you and I’ll DIE again. Is that what you want?!_ ’ Chara seized control over Asriel’s legs, rooting him in one place. ‘ _It’s me or them, Asriel._ ’

Asriel bit back Chara’s hold on his magic. He tried desperately to run far, far away from the human. He looked at the man. The man met his eyes and raised an arm. Asriel looked down at his friend. Droplets of water were falling onto their pale face.

“I’m sorry, **Ch** Ar **A** ….I’m so sorry…”

The bullet pierced his chest, and he fell to the floor of decaying foliage.

The man loomed over the fallen monster. He cocked his weapon and aimed at Asriel’s head, but hesitated… Then he tipped his hat and walked away…

Perhaps he had decided the job was done. He would return to his fellow humans, assuring them they could rest in safety. He would be regarded as a hero….

Or maybe he was wondering why a monster would cry?

_______

Being spared the second shot, Asriel was able to stumble through the barrier and collapse on the throne room floor. Chara’s body rolled out of his grasp. They hadn’t said a word to him the whole way back. What was there to say? He had just sentenced his best friend to die.

He thought he saw the outline of his parents rush to his side, but he didn’t feel their touch. They looked upset. Asriel wasn’t able to free anyone. And now, he and Chara were going to die.

He gave his family a weak smile and tried to tell them what had happened. He was glad he hadn’t hurt anyone, and the sky had been so beautiful. He wished he could’ve shown them…

His vision blurred. He wanted to rest. He could only feel a shiver working its way up his torso, and he could only hear the fuzzy static in his fleeting consciousness.

**This is all your fault…..How could you be such an idiot?**

________

…

……

…………….

They awoke with a thud.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but don’t have love, I am nothing." 1 Corinthians 13:2 (WEB)
> 
> Wheeereee did all of that come from? Longest chapter so far. I'll probably update this between every one or two weeks. I've got finals to study for so the next one will most likely be a two-weeker. I guess you'll just have to be... patient.


	5. Saltwater Sky

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Someone new has come to the Underground, and Chara is stuck with them. How long will they be able to survive?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I won't be giving a warning for every mildly-dark chapter, but I will warn that this chapter has references to cutting. I am going to add a trigger warning tag to the work, as well. Anyway, enjoy!

They woke up with a mouthful of hair.

Chara couldn’t move. The body they were in simply lay on its back and stared at the dismal overcast sky. The clouds seemed so far away. The eyes of the being in which Chara was contained watched as rivulets streamed down the side of the rock, turning the surrounding earth into a thick lake of mud.

This body was not Chara’s. This body was not Asriel’s.

Who _is_ this?

‘ _Where is Asriel? Why am I with YOU? I need to be with Asriel!_ ’

The girl did not make an effort to answer back. She did not appear to be aware of the presence entangled within her mind.

If she was truly and completely unable to sense them, then that would mean Chara had no way of communicating with the outside world. They could not move, be seen, heard, or touched. Yet, they were still here- staring at the hole where it had all began. _Why_ were they here? They needed to save Asriel from his stupid mistake.

…

Okay, so it was _their_ stupid mistake. Fine. It didn’t matter right now. They just wanted to be with their best friend- not stuck in… whoever _this_ was.

_______

She woke up with raindrops dribbling into her eyes

The girl blinked twice and tried to sit up. A stinging heat sliced up her leg, causing her to cry out. It didn’t look like she’d have been able to climb her way out, anyway. She called out to the gap in the earthy ceiling above.

Someone would come, surely. This had all been an accident- a really unfortunate mistake. Her cries began to get painfully desperate.

But no one could hear her.

She scooted herself from the rain to the edge of the chamber and looked down at her trembling hands. She had tried to grasp the edge of the chasm to stop herself from being swallowed up, and was still holding fast to a clump of freshly uprooted grass. A four-leafed clover had been reaped along with it.

What a joke.

Her family would notice she was missing- they would find her eventually…

She stroked the ribbon tied around her wrist…

What if they _didn’t_ notice? Her breath became raspy and she peered into the foreboding underpass of the mountain. Even if there was another way out, her leg was broken. She wouldn’t be able to make it five steps. She lowered her head to rest on her knee while her falling tears blended with rainwater.

All she could do was wait.

_______

The girl didn't remember falling asleep. She hefted herself up, yet again, from the dirt. Day had become night, and the caverns grew even darker than they had been before. The torrents of rain had slowed to echoing splashes. She flinched at every reverberation and put her hand to her soiled dress pocket.

There was a far off clamor of falling rock from the depths of the shadows. A few pebbles skittered into the enclosed space- like they’d been kicked forward. The girl sat upright and drew the knife from her pocket. It was plastic- but sharp.

She was buffeted by the icy wind, listening to the beat of… claws against stone. The creature would likely have night vision, and the girl was _very_ likely to be trespassing on its territory. She halted her breathing. She did not want to die- she had barely lived- and death by mauling was not the ideal way to go.

All at once, the footsteps came to a stop and a burst of flames engulfed the tomb in a brilliant sunset-orange. The inferno ripped away the veil of darkness to reveal the claws, horns, and teeth that were hiding beneath it.

“…Char **a**?”

The girl screamed.

It was not an animal- it was a _monster_! She raised her weapon between her and the creature. It would take her soul- she should’ve known this mountain was inhabited from the pillars that towered around her. Her parents had warned her about this mountain. To lose one’s soul is a fate worse than death, and here she lay like a bird with broken wings.

( _Mom? What are you doing here? Please, what’s going on?!_ )

“S-stay away!! If you try to hurt me, I’ll hurt you right back!” The girl pressed against the jagged wall. Her pupils shrunk and her breathing quickened its pace.

“C-child?” The monster looked shocked for a moment. “Please… do not be afraid. I am not going to harm you…”

It slowly inched its way to the center of the space. “I… I am merely here to look after this flower.”

The girl hadn’t noticed the crumpled plant that had weathered both the storm and her fall. A few petals had broken off, and it bent forward on its stem. She watched with caution while the monster remorsefully cupped its hands around it.

A green glow enveloped it, and it lifted its face tall and strong with its remaining petals. The job was done, but its healer remained knelt at its base, staring with glassy eyes. “Have you… been hurt from the fall?”

It… _She_ asked with such maternal tonality. The girl felt an odd tug of nostalgia in her mind that told her that this woman was synonymous, not with soul-devouring beasts, but with…

Butterscotch and snail shells?

Though still wary, the girl lowered her weapon. She waited in unease before recalling that she had yet to respond to the woman’s question.

“I’m fi-” She paused. What good would it do her to hide the truth? Whether she lied or told the truth, if the monster was bad she would be eaten anyway. On the other hand if she lied and the monster turned out to be good, she wouldn’t receive the much-needed aid. “I… I hurt my leg.” the girl confessed.

The woman examined the crooked limb from the distance and presented her empty, upward-facing palms to the child. “I am able to mend it, if you are willing… But if you are not, I… ask that you do not mind me staying nearby?” She grimaced at the depths of the cavern. “It would be… _wrong_ to simply let you go off on your own.”

She really did seem sincere…. Maybe the girl had been cast under a spell that would result in her being whisked away to the open mouth of an oven, blissfully unaware… But…. She couldn’t shake the nagging feeling that she had met this woman before.

She gave a curt nod, and tracked the woman as she approached. Her fingers twitched around the handle of the knife with suspicion, ready to attack if necessary. Large, padded hands hovered over the jutted angle of the limb. A cool, green light poured over the wound, sweeping the pain away like a stream. The girl felt the bone click back into place. The woman’s eyes softened, and she wiped her forehead with a satisfied puff of breath. “Is that better? Are you able to stand and walk comfortably?” She allowed the awed child to take hold of her hand while she tested out her balance.

The girl wobbled a bit, but her stance seemed solid. “Yes…. Thank you… um?”

“I am Toriel, caretaker of…the Ruins….” She paused with a sudden pained expression, “You… will not be able to leave the way you came in. I would show you the path to the exit b-but…”

“I think I can manage now, thanks to your help.” The girl didn’t want to be left alone in the darkness all over again, but Toriel already looked taxed from emotion and use of magic. It would be inconsiderate to ask for further guidance. Plus, this whole situation was completely out of this world.

“Ah… Yes, well… If you are in need of anything, my home can be found at the front of the catacombs. That being said, I do not believe that I have caught you name?”

“Um… My name is **-_** \-- ___.”

“…It was nice to meet you, **-*** -_ _-_. Please… do be careful, will you not?”

Without looking back, Toriel turned, and vanished down the black corridor.

_______

The nameless girl felt her way along the wall of the dimly-lit ruins. She had gotten lost more than once- walking in circles, and getting stumped by the most _painstakingly obvious_ puzzles. Well, they were obvious to Chara, having seen them all before. No matter how loud Chara yelled out the answers, they always fell on deaf ears. To say they were frustrated would be putting it mildly.

While their host fumbled through a pile of leaves, Chara let unanswered questions marinate in their mind.

What had happened after they and Asriel had left the barrier?

Why were they having such a hard time hearing names?

Why did Toriel call Home ‘the Ruins’?

And most important- Why did the girl keep her hair _So. Freaking. Long_?! It kept getting caught in her mouth, coating the strands in saliva, then amassing clusters of leaves into a knotted nest. She tried to weave her fingers through it to remove the vegetation, but they just broke into smaller bits of debris. Chara hated it.

Chara was in the middle of coming up with a fitting nickname for the girl when all of a sudden Goldielocks decided to take a tumble down her fifth hole today.

“Oof!”

She still hadn’t found the correct hole. It figured the switch to proceed would be in the one she picked last. A fresh bushel of leaves became entangled in the nest. It covered her eyes like a curtain.

She didn’t see the Froggit shoot its fly-shaped bullets at her.

They pelted down her side- from shoulder to ankle. They stung like the snap of ten-foot-stretched rubber bands.

A cyan heart bubbled from the wounded flesh. A thin line drew down its middle.

She recoiled through the leaves with an outcry of shock. The chamber was narrow, and she scuffed against the roughness of the wall.

The Froggit gave a threatening hiss and tensed its limbs, preparing to make a leap.

The girl reached to her pocket by instinct.

The enemy launched itself into a head-butt. The attack targeted the nearly split soul.

The victim closed her eyes and swung.

….

The knife cut clean through.

The creature’s dust continued forward, scattering across a mess of leaves and hair.

She barely realized what she’s just done.

But Chara understood all too well.

Dust.

The girl had turned the monster into dust.

Chara had turned into dust.

….

Chara had turned _Asriel_ into dust.

….

Chara began to scream.

Dirtied hands dug furiously into the web of crimson leaves and ash.

**GET RID OF IT. GET RID OF IT.**

The hands brought the plastic dagger to the web.

The hands fought back. The scarlet ribbon was knotted around the left wrist.

**GETRIDOFITGETRIDOFITGET-**

The fabric was torn from the arm, exposing the scars and scratches that had hidden below.

The knife urged to make more. Why did the hands resist the cut? A dot of blood formed at the point of the blade.

Chara continued to scream. They _deserved_ this. It was _their_ fault.

But whose voice was this? Why was _she_ screaming? It’s not like _she_ killed _her_ best friend.

The screams got shrill and manic. They grew louder, and louder. Static filled their ears until—

The girl’s constricting limbs were doused in a medicinal waterfall.

The mania and agony washed away downstream.

…

Silence returned, and soft fur clothed in fresh linen wrapped around the frail figure that had crumpled into a battle for her own breath.

Her mouth couldn’t decide whether to sob or gasp for air. A steady hand moved up and down the spine of the shivering child. A melodious voice repeated soothing words into unfocused ears, over and over. The words were near unintelligible, but they were real.

The girl clung desperately to each word in the same way they clung to the linen safety blanket that lifted her into its arms. The girl refused to loosen her grip, and allowed herself to slowly be carried out of the labyrinth of puzzles.

“Shhhh…. Please, my child, I will not leave you again…. It is hard,but… We will get through this, okay?”

_______

The girl wasn’t prompted to answer any questions on the way to Toriel’s home. Not about the dust. Not about the scars. It was probably for the best. She wasn’t sure she knew how to explain it herself.

She wasn’t sure she understood why she broke down that bad.

Toriel did all of the talking, which wasn’t much, but she spoke of how her own family had fallen apart- after losing both her children, her husband blamed the humans. It was a senseless thing done out of rage- their own child had been a human, after all. She left him, taking what was left of her children with her.

A body and golden flowers.

The woman and the girl were in the same hole-filled boat. She offered her house to the girl, since it didn’t seem like either of them would be leaving the Ruins without running into trouble. She offered a place of safety.

She shifted the girl to one arm, closed the front door behind her, and made her way in the next room to rest in an oversized armchair. The two of them sat in silence for several minutes before the girl grew conscious that she was clinging to someone she had just met. Toriel was warm- the girl might as well have been hugging the sun.

Regardless, she got up and surveyed the room. Toriel fetched a brush from down the hallway, and the girl sat at the foot of the chair to have the leaves detangled from her hair.

Light and warmth were emitted from the magical fireplace, and several candlesticks lined the wall. It didn’t seem like they singed the drywall at all. The dining table caught her eye. Three chairs. One more than the current party needed. She wasn’t sure why her attention had been drawn to it.

Leafing through the old books, the girl had learned the ruins had been the first settlement of monsters, but that none of them had fallen from the same opening that she had. Toriel said the books were outdated, so she would have to teach the child about the more recent events herself.

Foliage-free and after a much needed bath, the girl asked to have a look around. Toriel allowed the girl to roam the remainder of the property while she tidied up. The place had been abandoned for quite some time, and the benevolent monster hadn’t expected to have company.

________

Chara had calmed down. The sight of their mother and old home helped bring them back to reality.

So.

Their plan had failed, and Asriel had paid the price. They had really thought he would defend himself. Things would’ve probably turned out better if the two of them just waited for the humans to die naturally like Asriel had assumed. They…

They were an idiot.

…But it still didn’t explain how Chara ended up in Cyan’s body. It should’ve been impossible for a human to absorb another human’s soul.

Chara had settled on calling the girl Cyan after the color of her soul. It wasn’t blue exactly, and light blue was too long. Sky would’ve been acceptable, but Chara thought Cyan sounded cooler.

Cyan’s body was slightly taller than Chara was used to. She wasn’t as tall as Asriel had been after his transformation, but Chara suspected that she was somewhat older than them. They… hadn’t been comfortable with taking that bath earlier. At least they could see that the scarring was only on her left arm, and the cuts were shallow and few. Chara suspected that wearing the ribbon had helped her fight the urge somehow.

Cyan walked a short distance from the front of the house, passing the cross-pattern of leaves on the ground. More likely than not, it was just that- a pattern. But Chara briefly wondered if it held any sort of significance to the monsters. Chara certainly didn’t know what to think of it. Weren’t dead kids supposed to go to heaven automatically? Maybe that didn’t apply if you forced your monster-brother to consume your deathless, anti-termination infused soul. Then try to force him to murder and consume even more souls in an attempt to recreate the world to their own personal liking… Dying had made them think about some really strange stuff. Chara felt nauseous thinking about it, so they returned their attention to Cyan.

She had turned left unto the balcony overlooking the city. The last time Chara had stood here was when they had been welcomed into the monster world with open arms and cheers. The entire place had been packed from wall to wall. Now, there wasn’t a soul in sight. The city was desolate and abandoned. Time had left a thin sheet of dust over its entirety, the occasional flyer for spider bake sales tumble-weeding in the haunting wind. Chara gave a bitter laugh.

‘ _How fitting that_ _it’s called the ruins. I ruined my own home._ ’

A strong gale blew up from the overhang. Cyan started and spun around.

“Who said that?”

Chara was taken aback.

‘ _You… Can you hear me, now?!_ ’

If she responded, it would change everything.

There was a stretch of silence.

Chara sighed. She must’ve heard something else. That’s what they get for getting their hopes up.

“Yes… I can hear you. Where are you?”

Nope! They had every right to hope!

‘ _You- You can really hear me!_ ’ To the host’s surprise, her body gave a little bounce of joy. ‘ _It’s me, Chara! I’ve been stuck in your mind since you fell! You have no idea what a RELIEF it is to finally be heard! Do you know why I’m with you? I have so many questions!_ ’

“Whoa- whoa. Okay, slow down.” Cyan put her hands to her temples. “You’re kind of hard to hear. Um. I don’t really know what’s going on. Wait, Chara? That was what Toriel called me when she first saw me. Are you- “

She went pale.

Crap. Maybe telling her that the spirit of a monster’s dead child possessed her was a bad idea.

“And your voice…” She cradled her left arm with her right, stroking her fingers over the spot where Chara had cut her before. “Did you… make me hurt myself?”

Chara tried to think of a way to respond- to assure her that they could be trusted. That they didn’t _want_ to freak out like they did, or hurt her- or anyone else.

But they didn’t want to bring what they did to Asriel to light.

Crap, what were they going to _do?_

"Meow."

Cyan turned to the pathway that led back to Toriel’s house.

A Froggit blocked the way.

“No.”

Cyan froze up.

That was the only way out, and the balcony was _very_ high up.

“Not again. Please… I don’t think I can do that again!”

Chara realized that she was begging _them_. Memories of Asriel flashed in their head. _Chara, I can’t DO THIS_. The horrid taste of buttercups blistered in their stomach.

‘ _W-wait- Let me try something. J-just let me try--_ ’

Chara moved their way into control over the body. It wasn’t as easy as it had been with Asriel- like wearing a left shoe on a right foot.

Chara turned to face the Froggit and drew the knife.

The Froggit started to hiss.

“I- I don’t want to fight.” The words were scratchy coming from the girl’s mouth. Chara wasn’t sure if Cyan would trust them if they had to kill the Froggit to defend her life. They would be turning her into a killer, and she’d never listen to their voice again.

Just how much death was Chara willing to leave in their wake just to save their own skin? Not that it was their skin anyway.

The Froggit blinked and straightened itself, not dropping its guard.

“If you truly do not want to fight-“ it croaked, “then please, human-use some mercy.”

Chara raised the knife with a shaky, unscarred hand. A strange light glinted off the plastic edges of the quivering weapon.

Chara dropped it to the ground.

They waited in anticipation to dodge the monster’s attack.

….

But it didn’t come.

“…I see” the Froggit relaxed. “I spoke with Toriel, she said that you were upset after… killing my sibling- that you regretted it and were afraid. It seems that you truly _are_ capable of sparing a life, despite being human.”

Cyan choked back a sob.

“I realize you were likely attacked without warning… It might not be the last time it happens, so please take the time to try and talk it out before retaliating.” The amphibian let out a sorrowful sigh and looked away. “What’s done is done. You can’t change what happened. I, too, shall show mercy.” The monster dipped its head with a final farewell. It hopped away, back to its family, leaving Cyan alone with the voice in her head.

“Thank you, Chara.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it." Romans 8:25 (KJV)
> 
> Happy Mother's day! Whew! I've been pretty busy for someone who's supposed to be on break. Anyway, shout out to all of the people who've left a kudos! I'm seriously thankful for each of you. 
> 
> Also, about the verses^. Not the most popular thing, I know. I'd probably have a couple more hits if they weren't there. BUT. I promise it isn't my intention to alienate any readers or shove it down your throat. These are just two things (God and Undertale) that helped me get through the dark times at college. I figured that, since they helped me have hope and care about others, I would offer both for anyone who might want it. The verses will remain in the notes section, so it is your choice to read them or not. As always, thank you for reading!
> 
> Up next: The kids try to adjust to their new life, but something someone unexpected shows up.


	6. Like Apples and Oranges

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cyan inherits Chara's nightmares, and tries to cheer up Toriel.

Chara was sprinting through a forest of buttercups.

The flowers were tinted red, and blocked out all sunlight. The roots snaked over the ashen ground below, each ravenous to twist around Chara’s ankle. Gaster's amorphous figure giving chase would frenzy over them if they took even one miscalculated step.

Chara kicked up clouds of dust running from a creature that was everywhere and everywhen- pursuing even beyond death. It was a fruitless effort, but they had to try. Ivory bones erupted from every turn, forcing Chara to slide underneath the columns and skid to the right.

The shadows of the plants were cast at skewed angles, and Chara began to see faces swimming in their peripheral vision. When attempting to look at them head on, they vanished. They managed to spot Asriel’s face among the anguished distortions. They stumbled, a root immediately snatching them up. Their body ceased to respond as vines spiraled around it, and something gripped onto them with gelatinous arms.

They looked up to see their brother and friend, who’s fur was tainted with dark streaks that seeped from his eyes into his frown.

The scenery lurched, and Chara found themselves looking at Toriel who, despite not being able to age, looked a hundred years older. Lines were visible beneath her own glazed-and-grayed eyes.

The scenery lurched again, and they were staring down at their own body. But… it wasn’t them. It’s eyes were open and its smile warped. The other faces blotched out their vision. Chara didn’t recognize them. Chara didn’t _want_ to recognize them. They shut their eyes as a crackling laughter invaded the heavy air.

“ **Interesting...Don’t tell me that you’re afraid of the dark?** ”

The words came from the restless body in their arms. It wasn’t them- it wasn’t their voice. They weren’t entirely sure the sound even _was_ a voice. Roots began to circle around them, and pillars of bone closed in.

Chara’s soul shivered forth- an upside-down bleeding heart flower.

A hand clapped on their shoulder and they spun around to see Cyan gazing into Chara’s eyes with a familiar steadfast energy.

“Don’t give in- open your eyes.”

The leafage and osseous tissue shot at them, and the conglomerate of melting faces overtook Chara’s sight.

_______

“My child, please! Wake up!”

Cyan blinked the nightmare from her eyes. Toriel was holding her shoulders with fretting hands. The girl had tangled herself in the bedding, forming a thick cocoon of blankets. Her borrowed nightgown was sticking to her back from sweat.

The next hour of the night was spent sitting barefoot by the fire with paper, pencils, and a warm glass of milk. Cyan was swaddled in a plaid throw blanket while she lay on the floor chewing a pencil. Toriel hummed a sentimental tune as she stitched away at an old quilt that the two of them had found in one of the deserted buildings.

They had done their best to salvage what they could from The Ruins. Anything found in moderate condition would be used to try and revive the ‘homey’ feel that Toriel yearned for. The woman’s cottage was still in need of cleaning and repairs. Monsters that were too weak to make the migration had raided her kitchen in her absence. The room was in disarray as a result, but it wasn’t to the monster’s fault- they hadn’t expected anyone to come back. Therefore, all cooking had been done using the fireplace for the past month.

Had it really been a month already?

Cyan had heeded Toriel’s warning about Asgore, and opted to stay with her until they could come up with a plan to confront him. She had lived with the woman, following her through her daily activities of bug hunting, scavenging for resources, and chatting with her few neighbors. The girl trailed the benevolent monster like a baby chick ever since the incident with the Froggits. If there was any proof that Asgore’s decree wasn’t a farce, it was from the seemingly random encounters. Not every monster in The Ruins had been so quick to let the apparently murderous creature roam free.

Chara, too, advised that Cyan keep close to Toriel whenever possible. Though they claimed the danger of being attacked was a concern, the girl felt that Chara simply had a longing to be with their mother.

Taking a sip from her mug, Cyan mulled over what to draw on the blank paper lying before her. There was something strangely soothing about drawing by candlelight. Doodling hadn’t always calmed her after a nightmare, but the again, she hadn’t had such frequent nightmares on the surface. She suspected that this was due to her agitated passenger.

Cyan tried her best to understand Chara’s feelings, but she had never died before. And though she _had_ thought about it in the past, she didn’t plan to anytime soon.

So she tried to make them as comfortable as she could. She tied her hair back, avoided stepping on leaves (as much as possible, anyway), she even mustered the willpower to hold down a full slice of snail pie to appease her ghostly guest! But if there was one thing that stood out above the rest, it was when Toriel offered to give Cyan the child’s room adjacent to her own.

‘ _That’s HIS bed._ ’ they had emphasized. ‘ _You will not sleep in HIS bed._ ’

In the end, Toriel had allowed Cyan to roost in her own bed. She said that she would renovate the bedroom on the right into a suitable room for the child, but she kept putting it off. Honestly, the woman didn’t look like she enjoyed going in either of the vacant bedrooms.

At least Cyan wouldn’t have to suffer the unrelenting nightmares on her own.

The barren page became dressed in a golden-yellow. The girl’s unconscious had drawn a flower. They resembled the malicious buttercups from the dream, but were wearing their more traditional color. Cyan wondered if drawing helped Chara distinguish reality from lies.

…

No. This wasn’t a buttercup. The voice had become difficult to hear, but the feelings they emitted _insisted_ that this was not ‘that wretched weed of a flower’, but something entirely different. Cyan fidgeted with the hem of her sleeves and tried not to question it. There were a lot of odd landmines that could set Chara off.

Finally, Toriel returned from her hunt for tealeaves. Rather than tea, however, she hauled a worn-out desk chair into the still house.

“I _knew_  she couldn’t have been carried off too far.” She dumped the beat up piece of furniture in the center of the room, placing her hands on her hips in pride. “[Cyan], look what I’ve found!”

“It’s…” The girl eyed the object quizzically. “… a chair!” She tried to sound enthusiastic.

Toriel squinted her eyes, seeing right through the performance. “Oh, but this is not just any old chair! This-“ She gave a grandiose gesture and paused for effect, “is _Chair_ iel.” The woman raised her eyebrows and grinned expectantly.

Cyan stared dumbfounded.

“That….” The girl responded, rubbing the back of her neck. “That was a bad one.”

Of all the jokes Cyan had to shoulder, this one may have been the worst. Yet… she found herself smirking. She wondered if Chaira found it funny.

They did not.

Toriel chuckled at the reaction. “Yes, well, I just wanted to _chair_ ish this moment with you. Having you here is really the _chair_ y on top!" The girl groaned, and Toriel knelt next to her at the foot of the fireplace. “May I see your drawing?”

Cyan’s consciousness willingly lifted the paper to Toriel, but the being in her unconsciousness scrambled to hide it away. The girl presented the crumpled paper flower. The caretaker’s eyes widened in disbelief.

“Oh...” Her smile vanished, and she hastily turned to hide her face. “It… It is lovely.”

Cyan placed a hand on the lavender fabric of the woman’s shoulder, and placed the drawing face down on the hardwood. She should’ve consulted Chara before showing off their sketch.

“I’m sorry- I didn’t mean to upset you!” the girl flustered to correct her mistake. But why did the flower upset Toriel in the first place? It took the girl a moment to recall.

“This is the flower that you were taking care of, right? The one I fell on?”

“That is right… It is in memory of my children.” Toriel covered Cyan’s outstretched hand with her own and gave it a pat. “Char _a_ loved them… and Asriel brought back the seeds before... before…” Droplets of water glinted with firelight and fell from her hidden eyes.

“I should have taught him how to heal- he always struggled with that- or at least how to defend himself. _Anything_.” She tightened a fist around her robes. “But I just _watched him_ -“ She stopped herself and dabbed at her eyes.

“I am sorry. You are a child yourself. You need not be burdened with my grief.” She wiped at the tears and stood to brush the wrinkles out of her gown. “Do you mind if I hang that up? It is a very nice drawing. You might be able to sketch flyers for the Vegetoids’ market.”

Cyan chewed at her lip. It was always hard to tell if talking about painful memories would help someone heal or make them worse. She had to try at least once, but the death of a loved one isn’t something you just get over, and she didn’t want to pry any further. Instead, she crafted an airplane from a blank sheet of paper and held it up with a weak smile. “You mean... flyers like this?” She tossed the creation into take off, sending it gliding down the hall.

The tired woman gave a small laugh and wrapped the girl into a little hug before lifting her in her arms. “What a witty child you are! Come now, it is time to go back to sleep.”

Upon re-entering Toriel’s bedroom, Cyan caught her staring up at something shimmering gold atop the bookshelf. It looked like… another flower.

Toriel caught Cyan staring and lifted the child up for a better view of the sunset-colored flora. “My children would not want us to be sad.” It seemed like she was trying to assure herself rather than the girl. “We can only move onward to carry their memory.”

If only Chara would let Cyan tell their mother how literal that action was. But she promised she wouldn’t until they were ready.

Toriel tucked the child in with a kiss on the forehead before stepping out temporarily to hang up the drawing. Cyan was baffled by how fast she had grown accustomed to living with the woman- being tucked in her bed and all. Yet another effect of Chara’s influence. It felt like she, too, was one of Toriel’s children. Especially when she had switched from being called ‘child’ to ‘my child’.

That was fine, for now. Cyan couldn’t really go anywhere, so she could stay with Toriel and be one of her children for as long as the woman wanted. She tried to push out the idea that her own family would miss her. It wouldn’t do any good to think about it, so she could at least pretend that they would just carry on as normal without her. Everything would be fine if she could just help Toriel feel better, and that would take time.

Cyan eyed the flower’s cornucopia of loose seeds and listened to Toriel’s rhythmic footsteps pad to Asriel’s old room to twist the knob of the door.

_______

Chara drifted lazily in and out of focus while the girl backtracked her way through the caverns with cupped hands. Even with their limited movements, they didn't have much control over what they did or where they went. Cyan _tried_ to keep Chara happy- letting them take over whenever they wanted to make vent drawings or have a meal with their mom- but it always ended up like watching some sad movie featuring their shattered family and forsaken childhood home.

Chara heaved a sigh and stroked the cobalt ribbon that held together the girl’s ponytail. Long hair wasn’t so bad when it was well-kept, and Toriel made sure to help the girl brush it twice a day.

Toriel.

It was strange to watch her mourn their own death. They estimated that it had been at least a year since they and Asriel had crossed the barrier, and Chara wasn’t the only one that was plagued with nightmares of the event. The woman would talk in a broken voice- calling for, not only Chara and Asriel, but Cyan, too- a girl she had known for all of one month. Toriel regarded her with the same caliber of affection that she had with her own children.

Chara couldn’t extinguish the hot jealousy that brewed in their thoughts.

At last, the girl reached her destination. The window to the surface sent ribbons of warm sunlight cascading into the chamber, and the girl kneeled to scoop aside handfuls of dirt.

From her free hand, she deposited a cluster of seeds into each indention in the earth. Satisfied that the living conditions were sufficient, she tucked the baby flowers in with a blanket of dark soil and dusted her hands off on her dress.

She gave a pleased smile to the lone flower in the center. It was still missing some petals. “I think it will be much happier if it has company, don’t you think?”

 _It’s just a flower,_ Chara thought to themselves, careful not to let the words leak into Cyans range of the shared mind. _You’re wasting your time trying to appease an OBJECT that doesn’t have FEELINGS_. This wasn’t a first offense, either. Chara swore they heard her talking to a rock the other day.

They grunted. The girl adjusted her ponytail and swung her arms on the walk back, singing one of Toriel’s songs as she went. Chara was about to tease her for being tone-deaf, but something caused both minds to freeze.

There was no attacker, or even anything obstructing the path that the girl could’ve hit her head on. All the same, a sharp pain split through her head from three different angles- like a glacier breaking apart and grating against itself.

The girl gave a shrill cry- one hand braced on the wall, the other held to her ringing skull.

Chara felt their very thoughts stretch thin as wire. It was as though they were a rope in a tug-of-war fight- pulled apart, and torn straight down the middle. Chara was screaming now, too.

A crashing jolt shot through the air.

The stretching ceased, and Cyan fell to her knees with a hand on her chest. Chara was left blinking through double vision.

There were two images layered over each other- one of the corridor that Cyan knelt in, and another gazing at the opening to the surface. The latter began to move and look around.

Suddenly, it clicked, and Chara awoke to a realization.

_Another human has fallen into the Underground._

He woke up and jumped to his feet, spinning around wildly.

Chara rushed Cyan’s recovering body back to the flower room- nearly tripping over loose stones and debris. “W-what’s going on?” the girl squeaked in an apprehensive daze. Chara ignored the question that they couldn’t answer and raced on.

The foreign vessel was dashing his way through, as well. He plowed through the dirt, feet leaving tread marks in his wake.

It wouldn’t be long until Cyan and the stranger were in the same room--

A Whimsun meekly emerged from its leafy nest in the wall to investigate the rampaging creature. The boy turned to face the cowering monster, an orange soul bursting forth. His blood was thick with adrenaline.

“NO!” both Chara and Cyan exclaimed in unison. It seemed that they were both able to infer what the stranger was about to do, yet he remained ignorant of their presence.

‘ _You need to pick up the pace, or he’s going to dust the monsters!_ ’

Cyan sprinted as fast as she could, gaining enough momentum to leap clear over a pitfall puzzle and into the next room.

There he was!

The tan figure thrust one foot forward in an offensive stance, and drew back a worn, pink glove. He was preparing a barrage of attacks on an enemy that would die in one hit!

Cyan acted fast. The boy swung himself at the shrinking monster-- only to get knocked over and pinned flat to the ground.

“What the--?” His tangerine eyes short darts at his new foe as he struggled under her hold. “What are you doing?!”

“Don’t hurt them!”

“Are you _crazy_?! It’s a-- look out!” The boy pushed her off with ease and prepared to fight off the moth’s summoned attack.

Cyan threw her arms around the stranger, holding him fixed in place. “Don’t move!” A tornado of rapid beating wings spiraled from the Whimsun’s trembling hands. The two souls remained safely stationary in the eye of the storm.

“Get OFF m-“ he started, but then raised an eyebrow at the vortex. It didn’t even come close to them. Cyan released him, careful not to run into the bullets by accident, and spoke. “They’re harmless. Look.”

The flurry of wings dissipated, and Cyan took a gentle step towards the Whimsun. “Excuse-“ she began, but the timid being had already taken off in a weeping panic.

“…me.”

The cave shook with cackling laughter. “Oh, _man_.” They boy wiped tears from his eyes. “When I came here I thought I’d be fighting eighty-foot-tall ferocious beasts with, like, a bazillion teeth, not _butterflies_!” He slapped his knee and resumed howling.

Cyan narrowed her eyes. “Came here? What do you mean _came here_?”

“You know, I just-” he scratched the back of his head, “jumped down the hole.” His tone was casual, gloved hand resting coolly on his hip.

“You… _jumped down the hole_?” Cyan locked her eyes to his in disbelief. “Willingly?”

“Yeah, pretty tough, huh?” He side stepped around Cyan and continued to strut down the hall. “Anyway, we, uh, can’t go back out that way, so I’ll find another way out. C’mon!”

Cyan watched him with her mouth hanging agape. “It is _not_ cool! You could _die_. You’re stuck down here!”

He spun around to give wink and a thumbs up. “Not for long,” he boasted triumphantly. “It’s not like I didn’t come prepared. I’m ready to take on _any_ monster that might be lurking down here- bring ‘em on!” He smashed his fists together in demonstration.

“Did you bring bandages?”

“Did I bring what now?”

“You’re bleeding.”

The boy looked down at his arm to see the thin gash running up his forearm. His smile locked into position, but he furrowed his brow. More likely than not, the wound was inflicted by the fall. The Whimsun certainly hadn’t done that much damage. At least he didn’t break his leg like Cyan had.

“Well, uh…. It must’ve slipped my mind. I wasn’t planning on getting hit, after all.”

“Yeah. Okay.” Cyan rolled her eyes and began rifling through her pockets. The guy just threw away his freedom, and he’s not even taking it seriously. She would need Toriel’s help explaining the gravity of it all, but she needed to get him to her in one piece without dusting anyone on the way. From her pocket, she produced a small box containing band-aids in a disparity of sizes and handed them over. “I don’t have any monster food on me, so you can borrow these for now.”

As happy as Toriel would’ve been to provide snacks for emergency healing, the girl always kept the box fully stocked in case… her thoughts flitted to the first Froggit attack.

Just in case.

“Borrow?” the boy snorted while applying a large band-aid to his bruised limb. “Like… You want it back later?”

“No!” Cyan recoiled in disgust and turned away from the impish guest.

She didn’t want Chara looking at blood for a long duration of time. It seemed to be one of their triggers. She decided to change the subject.

“Look, you can’t just fight everything you see. Some of these monsters have families just like you and—“ The girl shook her head, purging the aching memories of her family from her thoughts. “Anyway, I can get you to the end of The Ruins where it’s safe. I’ll explain everything while we walk.”

The boy finished dressing his arm and placed his fists on his hips. Cyan held her breath, expectant that he would protest that he could do it all by himself. She prepared to give a verbose lecture on why he should slow down and listen for a second before he got himself killed, but he spoke up first.

“Lead the way.”

_______

After nearly and hour of witnessing the boy (now dubbed Orange by Chara) charge headfirst into pitfalls and terrorize every hyperventilating Whimsun in sight, the pair finally reached Toriel’s cottage.

The door squeaked open and a thunderstruck Toriel shielded her mouth with her hands, leaning against the archway for support. Meanwhile, Orange raised his fists to partially block his face in a defensive stance. Cyan had done her best to brief him on how nice Toriel was, but she thought she saw a shiver run down his spine when the tall woman loomed over him.

She approached him too fast for comfort, and he bent his knees to brace for impact, but there was no defending against Toriel’s special attack. She enveloped him a near-suffocating embrace, assuring him that she would care for and protect him for as long as he needed. Orange looked like he was turning blue, but managed to cough out a confused mumble of gratitude.

‘ _Well that settles it. It looks like he's staying._ ’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." 2nd Timothy 1:7 (KJV)
> 
> Alright, this chapter went up a bit later than I wanted, but there's a good reason for it. I got my first job, and it's been tough. I have a newfound respect for Burgerpants now. As a result, I'll still try to update every two weeks. If it comes out earlier, great! But if it takes longer, just know that it's on its way. Shout out to all of you who are dealing with stress! Hang in there!
> 
> Edit: this chapter was originally titled Night and Day, but I thought of the new one, and just couldn't resist!
> 
> Up next: Our new friends find themselves in an unexpected adventure.


	7. Fight, Flight, and Freeze

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to Orange, Cyan's having trouble maintaining her title of Patience.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The last chapter was late, so this one's early! I'll see if I can get another one in before I go out of town, but I want to make sure I don't rush these. As always, thanks for your patience. Enjoy!

“WHERE ARE ALL THE FREAKING TOILETS?!”

“I _told_ you- you don’t need them down here!”

“But the bathrooms seem so _empty_ without them. It’s just… a room with a bath!”

Cyan groaned.

_Of all the people to get stuck in a cave with- it just had to be the most OBNOXIOUS guy on the planet._

Orange dashed across the rickety hardwood of the abandoned two-story house. A few loose boards snapped under his momentary weight and crashed down into the floor below. If not for Toriel’s dodging lessons, the falling debris may have seriously injured Cyan.

“Watch it up there!”

“What? It’s not like it hit you. Besides, I found this AWESOME rope.”

Cyan huffed out her previously restrained frustration. They were supposed to be looking for salvageable silverware- items typically found on the _ground level_ of a building. They were _not_ meant to look for random junk that apparently could only be found in the most dilapidated crawl spaces and attics!

“Knock it off already. Toriel gets worried when we’re gone for too long.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

Orange shimmied down the gap in the flooring on his newly found rope. Upon reaching the ground below, he gave the rope a sharp yank, tearing it free from whatever object it had been tethered to.

The sound of something toppling over rang from upstairs. Part of the object splintered open upon impact with the floor. Moth-eaten garments spilled through the ceiling gap and draped themselves over a cross-armed Cyan.

“Pff-“ Orange failed to stifle his amusement. “You got a little…” He gestured his index finger to his face.

“ _Silverware_. Remember?” She pulled a pair of abandoned underwear off of her head in disgust.

“Relaaax, ok?” He withdrew two spoons and a knife from his back pocket. “I got it, see?” He waved them in a showy fashion.

Cyan clasped her arms together and turned towards home.

“Great. Let’s just head back.”

One of Orange’s eyebrows rose, but he just shrugged and ran full steam ahead. Cyan wasn’t sure if he had learned the way back, or if he was just running in any blind direction.

An empty giggle echoed in her mind.

‘ _He’s really testing your patience, isn’t he?_ ’

Cyan bunched her shoulders around her neck and shook her head. She hadn’t wanted them to pick up on her discomfort, but trying to keep her negative emotions to herself was like trying to catch a waterfall in a drinking glass. She had to help Chara and Toriel heal- maybe enough to talk to each other again. She couldn’t afford to burden them with her own fears.

…But knives.

Knives were landmines for both halves of the mind. Cyan had been gradually wearing down the temptation to cut while she was still on the surface. Her ribbon method had proven effective. But now she shouldered Chara’s thirst on top of her own. Ever since the day Chara took the knife to her skin, the urge had become twice as strong as before. It was all she could do to keep it at bay.

 _It wouldn’t just be SELF infliction anymore_ , she shielded the vulnerable thought from her mindmate. _Anything done to me is done to Chara now. If I’m going to help them, I have to take care of myself, too._ She nodded to herself, and quickened her pace to catch up with Orange.

At least he didn’t seem too heavily influenced by the ghost child. Chara hinted that they took residence in his mind as well, but he never showed any indication that he detected their presence.

This was especially evident when he (much to Chara’s dismay) agreed to take Asriel’s old bedroom for his own. Cyan never heard him wake up in the middle of the night screaming. Just the opposite- she was lulled to sleep by his earthshattering snores.

Lucky punk.

The girl pushed her way through the doorway of the now-very-familiar cottage, and swiveled to the kitchen to unload her spoils.

“YOU MADE A PIE OUT OF _SNAILS_?!”

_Oh boy…_

Orange shot up from the table to behold the mollusk-filled pastry with abject horror. Toriel, covered head to toe in flour, was wringing her paws in apprehension..

“I am sorry. I should have asked what your preference was first. I think I have some butterscotch left. Is that alright?” She leaned forward to remove the undesired plate.

His legs scrambled away, putting the table between the two of them.

“Never mind, I’m not that hungry.”

“Nonsense! You cannot just skip a meal,” Toriel insisted with hands on her hips and fire in her eyes. “It is not good for you, and I was planning to start your emergency battle lessons tomorrow. You will need your strength.”

Orange rolled his eyes. “Yeah, I heard about those ‘lessons’.” He made air quotes with his fingers. “They’re all about barking without the bite. I’ll be fine. So unless you have something with cinnamon, I’m going to bed. See ya!”

He sped to his room and slammed the door behind him.

Toriel’s shoulders drooped. Cyan couldn’t believe how anyone could act that inconsiderate towards the tired mother. She hovered around constantly, sure, but she was trying her best.

“He’ll come around, don’t worry.” Cyan rested a hand on the woman’s fluffy arm in assurance. “and hey, if he doesn’t, _I’ll_ teach him a lesson.”

In spite of herself, Toriel let loose a short breath of amusement. “Very funny, my child, but please do not resort to violence. We will just have to try and see things from his perspective- everyone is different after all.”

She was handling Orange’s rudeness surprisingly well. With that saint-like faith in kids, Toriel would make an excellent teacher.

“I will see about finding ingredients for a cinnamon pie, but it is already late. Go on to bed and I will return once I have found them.”

She bent down to kiss Cyan’s forehead before stepping out the door. “Goodnight, my child… Be good, alright?”

Cyan beamed at the woman with a sun-filled smile.

“I will, goodnight.”

_______

The night was quiet. Toriel still hadn’t come back, and the queen-sized bed felt empty with just the girl’s thin frame. She rolled to her side, fretting over what would happen if she was met with a nightmare in Toriel’s absence. She didn’t want to rely on Orange to wake her. She wouldn’t put it past him to tease her for something like that.

Her mind wandered to the face of the liquefied ringmaster that hounded her in her unconsciousness each night.

She rolled over again and kicked off the blankets.

It became apparent that she wasn’t going to get much sleep tonight. She sat up, dangling her legs over the edge of the bed with a sigh.

“Chara?” she called out, hoping for a distraction from her restless thoughts.

No answer.

“Chara, are you awake?”

Silence.

The room was starting to feel stuffy. _Could_ Chara fall asleep while Cyan was still awake? Or maybe she was losing the ability to hear them?

Without thinking, the girl began to scratch at her left arm. Her nails grazed over a line of flesh that rose above the rest of her skin.

She froze and her skin crawled with icy pins and needles.

**Go on, no one’s here to see.**

_No._

**And if Chara does notice? So what? It’s your body. You can do whatever you want with it.**

_Don’t listen. Don’t listen…_

**You WANT to do it.**

_Don’t- d- don’t-_

….

_Damn it._

Cyan pushed herself off the bed, touching her bare feet to the cold floor. She closed Toriel’s door behind her with a soft click. She held her breath, making sure no one would intercept her on her way to the glinting drawer in the kitchen.

Orange’s room was shut tight- not a sound from there. Cyan exhaled and tiptoed into the blackened foyer.

She made it halfway past the staircase before hearing the sound.

She locked herself in place and strained to listen. It was difficult to hear over the drumming of her heart, but faint scuffing sounds managed to reverberate their way from the basement to her ears.

Someone was down there.

Toriel didn’t let _anyone_ down there.

Temptation displaced by caution, the girl approached the stairwell centimeter by centimeter. Peering down, it was somehow darker than the main floor. The railing cast vertical shadows across each step, giving the illusion of an iron wrought gate.

Swallowing until her throat was dry, Cyan pushed her foot past a shadow, and descended down the stairs.

The temperature in the basement was significantly colder than upstairs. A current of air swirled strands of hair into her face, prompting Cyan to withdraw the cobalt ribbon from her pocket and tie a ponytail. The wind chilled her exposed neck.

The barren corridor seemed to stretch on without end. Cyan was no longer able to see her hands in front of her, and resorted to feeling her way along the wall.

She hit a corner and turned to the left. Shortly after that, the feeling of claustrophobia ebbed somewhat, indicating that the corridor had opened up into a wider space.

Cyan slid her hand along the wall until part of the stone repelled from her touch. She gave an experimental push, and the wall swung away. A door. Further prodding revealed that it was a double door.

The other half was already propped open.

The footsteps were easier to hear now. She must be close. She made sure to keep her steps light as she slinked through yet another hallway. Maybe she would be able to sneak up on the intruder from behind.

Moonlight trickled in from thin cracks in the ceiling, and it became easier to navigate her way. The room opened up into another curved chamber, and Cyan could make out a large door with columns on each side.

But her eyes fell upon something else.

A figure dressed in white and vermillion stood like a stone in the room’s grassy center.

Cyan let her tense shoulders slacken.

“I should’ve known. I would’ve heard your snoring.”

Orange flinched at the break in silence and spun around.

“What are _you_ doing here?” he demanded.

“I could say the same thing,” Cyan parried. “Toriel doesn’t want us down here. You know that.”

“Right, right. It’s a bad place ‘cause _Toriel says so_ ,” he mocked waving his hands in a shooing motion. “Since you’re sooo keen on following her rules, why don’t you run back upstairs like the good little pet you are?”

Cyan’s face grew hot.

“I am _not_ her pet.”

“Sure you are,” he spread his hands. “She tells you there’s no way out, babies you a little, and you just up and throw away your chances of ever leaving. You know what that’s called? STOLKHOLM. SYNDROME.”

Cyan’s lowed her voice to a foreboding tone.

“Toriel is a gentle and kindhearted woman! You will _not_ speak like she’s some kind of—“

“Monster?” his voice stabbed. “Why else do you think she wants to train us? She wants to learn our battle patterns! No one trains people how to fight by _talking_ their way out!”

“You’re paranoid. I’ve been here for a whole _month_. If she was going to hurt us she would’ve done it by now.”

Orange ground his foot into the dirt. “Haven’t you wondered why she calls this place the CATACOMBS? I’ll bet she kept the bones of her victims buried right under our noses this whole time!”

Cyan didn’t know who was buried in the Ruins, but she wasn’t going to back down on defending Toriel.

“Toriel isn’t out to get you. I’m only the _second_ human to fall down here. There’s no one else she could’ve hurt!”

“Yeah?” Orange took a challenging step forward. “Then where’s the other one?”

‘ _I’VE BEEN SHOUTING AT YOU THIS WHOLE TIME, YOU IDIOT!_ ’

 _Chara, you’re back!_ Cyan clutched her head. _please, try to reason with him!_

‘ _I… I’ve been trying. I poured all my focus into it, but I don’t think I can reach him. It’s up to you._ ’

Orange huffed. “That’s what I thought. You know what? Fine. Go ahead and stay, but I’m LEAVING.”

He turned on his heel and stormed toward the dominating pillars.

Cyan didn’t know what to do. He would be attacked on the other side- Asgore would steal his soul! She _had_ to get him to listen to Chara.

“Don’t you… hear anything?” she sputtered. “Can’t you _feel_ them trying to reach you?”

‘ _You sound crazy_.’

She tried again. “Toriel took Chara in, just like us. They loved her, but they got sick and… and their soul got trapped in the two of us!”

Orange paused at the exit.

“That’s how I know Toriel’s a good person,” Cyan continued. “She’s a lonely mother who’s family fell apart. She just wants to take care of us.”

“…Wow,” Orange breathed.

He faced Cyan again, mouth slightly agape and eyebrows raised.

“You’re even farther gone than I thought.”

He placed a hand on the door.

Cyan didn’t know what to _do_.

“You—I- NO!!”

She hurled herself in Orange’s direction, planning to pin him to the ground like before. But she leapt from a considerable distance, and he had plenty of time to dodge to the side.

He looked furious, but she had got him away from the door. That was all that mattered right now.

“Don’t take another step!” Her voice didn’t waver this time, and she positioned herself between him and the door like a barrier. “I won’t let you leave! I won’t let you die!”

“You’re CRAZY!” Orange spat. “We went to WAR with monsters! What makes you think… UGH! Forget it!”

He staked one foot forward in an offensive stance.

“If you won’t get outta my way,” he drew back a clenched hand.

“I’ll MOVE you!”

He thrust the gloved fist at Cyan who twirled out of it’s path just as she had learned. Orange made a beeline for the unguarded door, but Cyan twisted a hand around the bandana knotted around his waist, forcing him to the ground.

“Oof!” He quickly clamored from her hold and back to his feet, swinging a thunderous blow in her direction as he did.

This time he made contact, and struck her on her side.

“In case you forgot, I came here to free humanity from their ridiculous fear of this mountain.”

He angled the next attack to her head, aiming to knock her out. “And I’m not letting ANYONE stop me!”

Cyan limped from the hit, but managed to bolt rightward to evade the assault.

She countered with a knife hand strike to the back of his knee, and he staggered to the floor again. She wrapped her arms around his middle and held him down with her full weight. Even as she did, he didn’t seem as affected by the exertion as she was. He flailed a flurry of assaults in every direction.

Cyan deflected the throws with her own strikes while the two tumbled through the dirt. He was dealing MUCH more damage than she was. It took at least five of her attacks to be on par with just _one of his._

‘ _OW! Knock it off!_ ’ Chara hissed. ‘ _This isn’t fair- I can feel BOTH your guys’ attacks!_ ’

Alarmed by this realization, Cyan loosened her grip on her opponent ever so slightly.

It was enough for Orange to break free and send a fist flying into her stomach. It would’ve been enough to turn most Ruins monsters into dust.

Cyan fell reeling to her side.

“Sorry,” Orange panted as he stood from the struggle, “but you gave me no choice.”

Cyan lifted herself with one arm just in time to see him push open the door and take a step out.

‘ _….No._ ’

Chara shook within Cyan’s pounding head.

‘ _I don’t want to die again. I WON’T!_ ’

Fueled by a strange spike of energy, Cyan flung all her remaining strength into Orange’s back. The door burst open, and the pair barreled face-first into feathery drifts of snow.

A fierce gale of wind buffeted their ill-dressed bodies and forced the door shut with a slam.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these." Mark 12:31 (KJV)
> 
> An alternate title for this chapter was Stop Hitting Yourself, but maybe I can use that later. Anyway, I was put in charge of dinner last night and I totally butchered it by stuffing as many noodles into the tiny pot as possible. Take a wild guess at what food it was.
> 
> Spaghetti.
> 
> I guess I have zero redeeming qualities.
> 
> Up next: Cyan is still barefoot.


	8. Have an Ice Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Orange and Cyan are thrust into Snowdin Forest severely unprepared. From Orange's pov.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aw yeah, got it out on time! Another chapter released in less than two weeks! However, the next one will take somewhere around four weeks (give or take a few days). I'll be jumping in and out of town for a while, but I'll see if I can fit some writing time in somewhere. Thanks for reading!

He found himself shoved into a freezer and cold slush shot up his nose.

Instant brain freeze.

Orange lifted his face from the ground and snorted the frozen vapor out of his nostrils. He used his gloves to wipe the melting snow from his eyes and blinked at his surroundings. Mostly everything was just white, but there were rows upon rows of pine trees that, if he were standing, would wave just above his head. They outlined a single strip of snow that extended as far as his vision could reach through the parade of falling snowflakes. At least he didn’t have to figure out which way to go.

He hefted himself to his feet only to notice the weight digging into his shoulder blades. He twisted his head around to see Cyan glaring at him, eyes flared red in anger. All he could think to say was “Oh”.

“Yeah, OH.” She spat snow out of her mouth and coiled herself around his torso. “We’re going back, or you’re not moving from this spot!”

He glared right back. _Hasn’t she had enough?_ Her weight was fully upon him again, but this time it felt more like it was out of necessity- like she’d collapse if she stood on her own. Even so, her limbs locked tight around him in a persistent defiance. _She’s really not going to give up is she?_

“Geez, okay, okay! You win! We’ll go back. Just get back inside before you keel over.”

 _So I can leave without you finding out next time,_ he thought to himself.

“You’re not even wearing shoes!”

He hadn’t thought to dress for snow either. His sweatpants were all right, but his sneakers were already starting to dampen and his tank-top did nothing to shield him from the frigid air. Why the heck was it snowing in a cave anyway? He would need to find warmer clothes for when he set out for good.

Cyan was suspicious of his words, but lowered herself to the ground, supporting herself against the outer wall of the Ruins. After glancing back to make sure Orange wouldn’t bolt, she tugged on the frost-covered door.

And then tugged again.

And then pushed.

She slowly turned to Orange with panic-infused eyes. Orange moved her out of the way with a hand before slamming it into the sealed entrance at full force. It didn’t budge. He shook the shock of the impact from his hand and exchanged a look with Cyan.

They were locked out.

Orange cursed under his breath. “Welp, guess we’re walking then.” He started his way down the overgrown pathway.

“Wait, _what_?” Cyan limped after him, clutching her stomach. “No! We have to stay by the door- Toriel will notice we’re missing and come let us back in!”

His legs were starting to feel numb from the cold. He wanted to keep himself moving to stay warm, but he slowed himself enough for her to keep up. “There’s no way we can sit through a snowstorm like this without losing all of our toes. We’re finding shelter.”

Cyan looked like she wanted to protest, but her teeth wouldn’t stop chattering long enough for her to form a convincing argument. “F-fine. But once it clears up we’re coming b-back.”

She hobbled by his side without any further complaints- thank goodness. Honestly, Orange was still winded from their fight, and was in no hurry for a rematch.

The two circled around a small fissure in the ground and continued through the legion of trees. Neither of them could see a building for miles, and the storm didn’t help with visibility either. It looked like they’d be walking for a while.

_______

Snow, snow, and more snow. It looked like they'd be walking for a while.

“So why didn’t our souls pop out while we were fighting?

“They didn’t ‘pop out’ because we’re not monsters… Duh.”

“Okay, if you’re sooo smart then why is it snowing underground? And how are we able to see anything AT ALL without light bulbs or sunshine?”

Cyan paused as she was fished the answer from its storage space in her brain. “It’s magic to… make the Underground seem more like the surface. The light comes from spells cast on crystals that grow dimmer and brighter as time passes- like artificial sunlight.” She spoke like she was actively listening for what she needed to say.

“Oh…”

They had been walking for about hour or so, and Cyan was starting to look faint. They had long since started leaning into each other to keep warm. It was unwilling at first, but Cyan was practically laying on him to support herself now. She already had the wind knocked out of her from the fight, and having swollen feet didn’t help either.

Orange sighed and gazed up at the spiked roof of he cavern, high above the conifers. Nestled in the rock were star-like stones that emitted enough light to mimic that of a quarter moon. He had begun disrupting the static silence of falling snow with a series of questions. Sure, Cyan would eventually get annoyed with him again, but he didn’t want her passing out without warning. Brave as he was, being left alone in a dark, subterranean forest was not on his to-do list. “So, are those stalaGMITES or stalaCTITES? I always get them confused.”

“…”

“[Cyan]?” he asked, worried that she was fading faster than she let on.

“I’m t-thinking… I’m pretty sure it’s stalagmites that are on the ground because you stalag-might step on them.”

“…You’re a worse joke-teller than Toriel. Are you sure it’s not because they stalag-might fall and hit you in the head?”

“I wasn’t joking. That’s just how I remember it. We're.. really nothing like each other.” 

“Please. You act j-just like her. Although you DO take beating me over the head with rules a bit more literally than she does.” He rubbed at a welt on his leg. “Anyways, I guess we can just call them rock icicles and leave it at th—WOOAAH!!”

He slid forward on the slick ice until the ground disappeared from beneath him, Cyan following suit. Soon enough, they were plummeting off the edge of the crag and into the drifts below.

Orange sank deep into a basin of snow at the cliffs bottom. He shook snow poffs out of his head and rushed to Cyan’s side. "H-hey!” He nudged her face-down body with a shaky glove. Her unkempt hair swirled in the snowy wind, but she didn’t respond. “C’mon, you’re not DEAD, right?”

He cursed a cloud of breath into the bitter wind, and he began to pull miscellsneous objects from his folded bandana. Rope, two pieces of monster candy, 30G, Cyan’s box of band aids- ugh! Nothing helpful- wait, monster candy! He franticly fumbled to undo the wrapper. His fingers kept slipping off the plastic. “H-hang in there! Just hang in there. I’ve almost—“

“Sh-h!” She sputtered and sat up (with what looked like a painful amount of effort) and slapped an icy hand over his chapped lips. She then pointed, directing Orange’s gaze upward to where they had fallen from. His eyes saw nothing past the fog of snowflakes, but he could definitely HEAR something.

There were voices. Voices and… sniffing?

He tilted an ear toward the voices to listen. A high-pitched voice started yapping.

“New smell! New smell! Never smelled a smell so smelly! What could it be??”

There was a hail of low-throated barks and bow-wows before a particularly husky voice returned the conversation to English.

“I agree, Best Dog. I recognize this scent too. If it’s what I think it is, then this is the day we’ve all been training for- the day we get our paws on a human soul!”

Orange and Cyan flinched. Training? These guys didn’t sound like they’d be push-overs like the monsters in the Ruins. Orange shot Cyan a look of unease, but she was intent on listening to the discussion.

“Here’s what we’ll do,” another voice spoke. “Best Dog and Doggone should check the rest of the forest since they have the thickest coats. We still need to find the Snowdrake responsible for this blizzard, but you can keep an eye out for the human too. Good Dog, Pretty-Okay Dog, and I will check closer to town.”

“Good,” yapped the first voice.

“Yes?” yipped another.

“No, I mean _the plan_ is good!”

A heavy woof boomed over the other four voices.

“She’s right,” the husky voice said. “We don’t have time to waste! Fan out and report _anything_  out of the ordinary!”

There was a series of howls and the padding of feet before the only sound left was the clattering of Orange and Cyan’s teeth.

“They said there’s a town.” Cyan whispered. “If we’re careful… maybe we can hide out there for the rest of the night?” She seemed unsure.

“Well I’m not staying out here any longer than I have to.” Orange was shivering violently. He was debating on whether or not to tie his totally-cool bandana around his sleeveless shoulders, when Cyan tried to stand up from the fall.

“Nnh—“ She pitched forward, Orange only just caught her before she plunged back into the ankle-deep snow.

“H-hey, are you okay? Can you make it?” He eyed her feet- swollen and purple. Guilt pounded in his chest. It shouldn’t- he didn’t MAKE her follow him into this mess. He didn’t MAKE her fight him to the point of exhaustion.

“I’m f-fine.” She teetered in place, trying to regain balance.

They needed to get out of the cold _now_. “I’m not dumb. Don't lie to me.” Orange scanned the cliffs in haste, looking for ANY sign of civilization. He wouldn’t be able to see anything from way down here. “Get on my back,” he prompted.

Cyan gave him a look. “I’m too heavy for you to carry. We don’t even know how far this place is.”

“Well do you have any _other_ ideas? Wait no- I’ve got one! I could just leave _without you_ …” He put a hand to his chin, pretending to consider the thought. Annoying her seemed to make her act faster.

“All right, already. You’ve got a point.” She climbed into a piggyback and looped her sleeved arms around his neck. The double-layered navy robes she borrowed from Toriel provided much more insulation from the biting breeze than Orange's bandana could've done. Her arms made a good scarf for him, even if he had to plow the two of the through the snow like a rolling boulder.

Walking on the blanketed ground was a chore- like walking atop a spread of over-stuffed pillows. Cyan gave a look of doubt when Orange had to catch his breath when he finally reached the top of the slope.

“This - _huff_ \- is * _wheeze_ * NOTHING.” He nodded down to the abs he drew on his bandana. “I have a twelve-pack after all.”

Cyan grunted, too tired to give a rebuttal, and Orange continued to cross a narrow slab of rock that stretched to the other side of the cliff (careful to watch for ice this time). Past the dense trees, they spotted three trails of paw prints that were headed in the same direction. The group of three had been heading to town, so they were on the right track.

“ _Dog tracks that is_.” Cyan chuckled to herself.

“[Cyan]?”

“Yeah?”

“I hate you.”

The warm breath of her laughter puffed at the back of his neck- the fleeting warmth was terribly deceiving before it vanished completely. As obnoxious as he tried to be, she always got back at him with yet another cringy pun. He wondered if she made them on the surface, or if she only started because Toriel enjoyed them.

“Look!” she cried suddenly, interrupting Orange's train of thought, before pointing at a small doghouse resting to the side of the path. It looked like it would keep the wind out, and the ground underneath was snow-free. The tiny shack looked incredibly cozy at the moment. But it was the absolute worst place to hide from the soul snatching dog brigade. The pair passed it with longing, and came to a halting sight.

A treacherous and sickly-narrow rock formation was the only bridge across an ENORMOUS gap. It was _mostly_ ice-free, but should they be ambushed while crossing, they’d be goners in no time flat.

Orange gulped while Cyan chewed her bottom lip. “Do you… want to find another way around?” he asked. They couldn’t really take much more of the cold… But it was too risky.

Cyan sighed a cold gust of breath, chilling Orange’s neck. “That… might be for the best.”

Orange was a little downcast. The paw prints went over the bridge-like structure like it was nothing, but could Orange really keep his balance _and_ carry Cyan across? “Right…” he moped. He began his backtracking, but something caught his eye. Behind a misshapen pile of snow was what appeared to be a snowflake.

A _very big_ snowflake.

It blinked at him. And then it started to screech, hurling razor-sharp crescents of ice in his direction.

He dodged the worst of it, but the cold made his movements were even jerkier than usual.  Not to mention that he couldn’t fight back with Cyan as his passenger.  He was doused in a flurry of stinging shards, his foot scrapping at the edge of the cliff behind him. He wouldn't be able to get around the rampaging monster without taking serious damage.

There was only one option left. He dodged without stopping for breath, ducking and sliding- Cyan yanking him to a halt whenever he was about to run straight into a spiraling blade.

Finally, the beaked monster eased up on its assail. Orange turned on his heel and _ran_.

His soaked sneakers squashed against the stone bridge. It was just wide enough for him not to tumble off immediately.

_Don’t look down- Don’t look down._

He was halfway across, sheer cold winds whipping his hair and caressing his cheek. The thin layer of stone was all that kept him from being enveloped by the open air.

An eye wandered southward over the pinpricks of trees below. He drew a sharp breath and held it.

_DON’TLOOKDOWNDON’TLOOKDOWNDON’TLOOKDOWN!_

The monster’s attacks faded in the distance. Orange stumbled periodically, and Cyan leaned her weight inward so they wouldn't plummet over the edge. Almost there—

Oranges legs gave out after hitting a patch of ice, and he and Cyan spilled out on the ground on the other side of the chasm. He shuffled his aching and frozen body into sitting position to peer at her from his snow-laced eyelashes. She still had her eyes squeezed shut, but she wasn't any worse off than before.

“…Did we make it?” she squeaked.

Up ahead was a blurry glow of light. It was a fair-sized building with a friendly and inviting air to it. He could just make out the words ‘SHOP’ and ‘INN’ on it’s front. There wasn't a townsperson in sight to witness the duo's great balancing act.

“Yeah… I think we did.”

_______

It was like stepping out of a freezer and into a hot spring. Even the walls of the cabin were painted a warming shade of apricot. The aroma of carrots and honey waltzed through the comfortably-thawed air. Orange shambled his way to the front desk, Cyan still draped over his back.

“No one’s here,” Cyan exhaled a held breath. “Quick, find a room key before they come back.”

Orange rounded the corner of the vacant counter and stopped dead in his tracks.

“Hiya!”

A rosy-cheeked rabbit girl waved at the pair. She had been too short to see over the countertop. She craned her neck to look them up and down, though Cyan was mostly hidden from sight.

“Gee, we don’t get man furless folk here in Snowdin. What kind of monster are you? Four arms isn’t enough to be a spider…” She tilted her head and her ears flopped to the side. Cyan ducked her head behind Orange’s back. His arms supported her weighted, so the ‘arms’ the rabbit was seeing were, in actuality, _Cyan’s_ arms and legs.

“Uhh… Yeah! I’m a spider! I… got frostbite so bad that some of my arms fell off! I could really use a room key so I can rest and, uh... grow them back.”

Cyan kneed him in the side, but the rabbit girl’s paws flew to her face. “Oh my goodness! Of course- I’ll get you a key right away, sir!” She jumped a foot in the air and scampered to dig a small gold key from one of the drawers. “Here you are! No need to pay, it’s an emergency, after all. My pa and sister are in the shop next door if you need some food for fast healing!~”

Cyan flailed her hand around until it found and accepted the key from the rabbit’s outstretched paw.

“Uhh. Thanks!” Orange said while Cyan gesticulated his gratitude with a double thumbs up. “I’ll keep it in mind.” He trudged backwards up the stairs to the rooms to keep Cyan out of view. She attempted to salute the rabbit in farewell, effectively smacking Orange in the eye.

Once Orange ducked safely beyond the child’s line of sight, he swatted away Cyan’s hand and crouched down for her to dismount. With her arm tucked around his shoulders, he unlocked the door and led her into the room.

At last, with a sense of security behind the locked door, the two dragged themselves to the bed and dropped into the freshly washed duvet. They both exhaled a hardy gust of exhaustion.

Cyan rolled to her side and gave Orange a flat look. “ _Grow them back?_ ”

“What?” Orange defended. “It’s a thing! Toriel has her snail facts and I have my spider facts.”

He rolled over to see her inspecting her frostbitten feet. “Those don’t look so good.”

“No…” She winced as she massaged her numb soles. “I don’t think my limbs will regrow as easily as a spider's.”

“Here-“ Orange placed both pieces of monster candy in her hand and hefted himself to his feet. “That should help, I think. I’ll soak some wash clothes in warm water that you can put on them too.” He entered the connected bathroom to fetch the rags before adding “And then I’ll get some more healing items from that shop. We don’t want to be caught in another emergency without some.”

“Hold on a sec-,” Cyan called from the other room. “You just carried me for like half a mile. You need to rest too.”

Orange was about to laugh, but caught a glance of hi reflection of the bathroom mirror. He look absolutely haggard- his hair was riddled with pine needles, and his clothes were muggy with sweat and melted snow. He hadn’t paid much attention to the ache in his legs and back either.

“It’s…” He trailed off, then slapped his hands Against his face to psych himself up. “It’s fine! I’m waayy tougher than you are!” He tried to sound as irksome and prideful as ever. There was a small break of silence between the two of them.

“…  _I’m not dumb. Don’t lie to me._ I can tell you’re just as tired as I am. You need to slow down and think about what you're doing to yourself.”

Crap. He had been sure that was a flawless lie. It was like she could read his mind or something... But that was impossible, so Orange tried to laugh it off. “No, seriously. I’m all right. It’ll be good to have something to eat anyway, so-“ He tossed the washcloth at Cyan’s face and snatched the sheet from the bed. “-I’ll just be a minute or two.”

“Wait—“

He shut the door behind him before she could nag him further. _Yeesh_. Sure he was tired, but she didn’t have to go and make a big deal out of it. He threw the sheet over his head like a cloak- covering every part of him except his face. The young bunny might’ve bought the web he spun, but he didn’t want to take any chances with a adult monster. He made his way down the stairs to the conjoined shop.

It was a snug little place, various boxes, old books, and multi-colored bottles were stacked high against the shelves. The majority of the room was lit by candlelight, with check-out counter was towards the front. The shopkeeper manning itwas partially obscured by a velvet curtain that framed his wares. Orange couldn’t see much of him, but he was much larger than his daughter had been. Orange shuffled to the back of the store where he wouldn’t draw attention.

Ah-ha! Here’s where the food was! There were hot trays of pastries lined up to cool. Orange had read and re-read the labels to make sure he wasn’t hallucinating out of exertion. But the labels were clear in black and white- ‘Hot Cross Bunnies’ and ‘Honey Bunnies’. Now it felt like Cyan was getting her small revenge without even being in the room!

The faint fragrance of cinnamon wafted from the latter, and he had to restrain himself from shoving ever last honey bunny into his salivating mouth. He had enough G for two honey and one hot cross. There was an ice chest full of Bisicles too, but the thought of eating something cold wasn't very appealing at the moment. Gathering up the glazed spirals of dough, he adjusted his sheet-cloak and tried to appear as casual as possible while approaching the shopkeeper.

"Hiya!" His voice was deep and cheerful. "I didn't see you back there. You don't look like a tourist. What brings you here, traveler?"

Orange shifted his weight back and forth. "I... Heard you have some pretty sweet buns?"

He kicked himself mentally.

The rabbit man's fur tinted pink. "Ah... Well! I'm glad to hear my famous recipe is getting the recognition it deserves!" He tapped his chin in thought. "Say, why don't you go ahead and try one and tell me what you think."

Orange really just wanted to get out of there as fast as possible, but the man looked too eager. Freeing a Honey Bunny from its paper wrapping, he took a tentative bite.

"Well? How is it?"

It was fluffy, sweet, and still held heat from being freshly baked; after his face-numbing trek, I might as well have been sticky manna from heaven. The glaze dissolved like snow in his mouth. They really were some _darn_ nice buns. However...

"It could use more cinnamon. Other than that it's perfect!"

The man was surprised. "Really? I..." He leaned in as if to share a horrible secret. "I accidentally dumped a _whole box_ of the stuff in that batch. Are you sure you don't just have a sweet tooth--"

"I KNEW IT!"

The man flinched and went stiff as a board. The voice came from another small bunny girl. She appeared to be a rich violet in the low light. "I _knew_ you hid the cinnamon from me!"

The man began to sweat profusely. "Ah-Um- This is one of my daughters, she's been working very hard on creating a new Cinnamon Bunny recipe- one that I would _never_ interfere with."

Orange put his hands up in the man's defense. "Hey, he said it was an accident."

Her eyes flared up and she glared at Orange like he was the scum of the earth. "As for you-" she puffed out her chest and put her hands on her hips. "No weapons at the shop or inn! You really should've noticed, Dad. Before you know it you'll accept sticks for pay instead of Gold. And I hope you don’t intend to steal that sheet!"

"Weapons?" Orange didn't understand.

"You're gloves. There's a box outside, you can leave them out there." She held out a hand, waiting.

 _Cyan's worse than Toriel, and this girl's more of a nag than Cyan._ Already tired, he complied and slipped off the pink gloves, depositing them in the girl's tiny paws. Once appeased, she smiled more pleasantly than expected and bounced off with a word of thanks.

"She really _is_ a nice girl," the dad assured. "She's just passionate about the shop keeping business... By the way, those were some pretty tough-looking gloves you had there."

"Yeah?" Orange perked up at the opportunity to boast. "You should see my bandana, it's SUPER cool!" He tossed the sheet out of the way of the twelve pack and struck pose, only to realize his grave mistake. He quickly wrapped himself back up, hoping the man didn't notice his rather human-like arms.

"Hmm..." The man scratched his chin. "If it's alright with you, I'd like to try and re-create them to sell in the shop. We don't have anything like those in the Underground."

_Phew._

"Totally! These are custom-made by yours truly. Everyone should have a pair!"

The man laughed good-heartedly. "Yes, I agree! Oh! I didn't mean to keep you so long. You look a little worn out. I won't be charging you for the food, so please get some rest"

That was good because Orange just noticed that he dropped the 30G somewhere along the cold journey. But it was almost unheard of- a free room at an inn _and_ free food? Orange made sure to give the shopkeeper his hugest grin before starting the way back to the inn.

"By the way-” The man’s voice slowed Orange’s pace. “Some of the Royal Guards were asking around about a human they suspected to be in the area."

Orange tripped over a loose floorboard and stumbled into the wall. Bracing himself, he eyed the man from behind the sheet, waiting for whatever came next.

"Just... Keep an eye out, okay?"

"...Yes, sir. Thanks."

The man nodded, and Orange dashed back to the safety of the rented room.

_______

Cyan jumped when Orange re-entered, fidgeting around with the edges of her robes. She sat on the bed, feet looking less like blueberry clusters and more like actual feet. Judging by the dampness of her hair, she had also taken a shower. “You could at least _try_ to listen to me, you know.”

Orange shed the sheet and dangled his sugar-filled spoils in front of her face. “But if I stayed in the room, we wouldn’t have gotten any dinner. And I’d hate to miss a meal.” He gave his belly a pat. “Besides, I’ll bet your freaky dead imaginary friend can listen to you To your hearts content.”

Cyan flinched and did that thing where she clutches her arms again. Right. With all the effort she and Orange had put into not freezing to death, he had almost forgotten how weird she could act sometimes. Weird as she was, he… should probably apologize for getting her into this mess in the first place.

“Hey… About hitting you… and what I said about Toriel… and making fun of you… You get the point, right?” Cyan peered at him from behind her hair. He reddened a little. This was not something he was used to doing. “For all of it- I’m sorry, okay?”

Cyan seemed to consider the apology before speaking herself. “Thank you… I mean, I get it- deadly monsters… ghost voices….” She took a deep breath. “Dying. It’s not stuff that people really want to think about. I don’t blame you for thinking I’m crazy. I probably wouldn’t believe me either. I guess since Toriel was one of the only friends I ever made I took her side and assumed you would too- like it’d be obvious.” Cyan rested her head on her knees, eyes downcast. “She told me to be good, and I got us… _here_.” She swept a hand across the room.

Orange smoothed back his hair with both hands. “C’mon, we can’t _both_ blame ourselves. Besides, you helped me get past some of the soul-thirsty monsters- Who knows how this would’ve turned out if I had come out here _alone_. It’s not so bad here. Look-“ He bounced onto the bed and pulled one of the pillows to divide the sleeping space down the middle. “That’s is your side and this is mine. Cross the line and I'll kick you. We’ll go back to Toriel’s tomorrow, and... everything will be fine.”

Cyan stared unblinking at the smaller-than-queen-sized bed. She didn’t look particularly comforted. “Okay… If you’re really sorry about picking on me before, then you have to _promise_ not to make fun of me if I have trouble sleeping.”

“Trouble sleeping?”

“Like… If I have a nightmare or something.” She wouldn’t look at him.

Orange stared blankly for a moment. “… I promise I won’t make fun of you for having nightmares.”

Some of the tension left her shoulders as her terms were accepted, and she lay down on the mattress. “Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it.” He dumped the bag of pastries of the bedside table. “Eat something before you go to sleep, I’m gonna take a shower.” She nodded and he turned to the bathroom before pausing to turn up the heater until it let out a continuous humming sound. “White noise might help you Sleep if you’re having trouble. Don’t sweat it, okay? It's not real.”

Bidding her goodnight, he locked the bathroom door behind him and ran a hand over his face, sighing. His reflection gazed at him, judging lay.  _Keep it together. Don’t be a coward. Stop your hands from trembling! Stop thinking about the weird nightmare faces._ He adjusted his face in the mirror until he looked like the macho-tough guy he strived to be.

There.

What was it about the underground that made him so jumpy? It’s not like the surface was much different- people lash out at others all the time when they’re scared. Orange knew it all too well.

_But who would’ve known? She gets bad dreams just like I do._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord." Psalm 27:14 (KJV)
> 
> I had some fun writing this one. Orange speaks a bit more casually than Cyan. The shopkeeper and innkeeper of Snowdin in the game are children because this story takes place before the event's of the game.
> 
> Up next: We're going back to Toriel's... Right?


	9. Smells like Virtues and Wet Dog

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cyan and Orange delve deeper into the Underground.

Cyan was roused awake by the relentless sound of sniffing at the door of the room. Her eyes flew open, and she kicked Orange (who had sprawled out past his half of the bed and was now laying upside down) square in the jaw.

"OW! What's the big idea-mrff!" She clasped a hand over his aching mouth. He gave her a death glare at first, but soon, he too was drawn to the voices beyond the door.

"-already don't get many customers, here. I don't want you scaring off the few we have!"

"As members of the Royal Guard, it is our duty to the King and to the people of the Underground to investigate any signs of human activity. A Snowdrake claimed to have seen a human in the forest yesterday. On top of that, our scouts have detected a code green scent in the area- around this Inn in particular."

There was a heavy pounding on the door. "Open up by order of the King!"

Cyan and Orange floundered to de-tangle themselves from the covers. Having no windows to escape from, they scrambled to push a heavy desk out in front of the door, but it wouldn't be enough to hold off the guards if they decided to force their way in.

"Open up at once!" the voice’s patience was already exhausted. "Or we'll have the Innkeeper unlock the door!"

Orange started pacing wildly about the confining room, spewing curses like sparks from a fire. Cyan pressed her hands to her temples. They were unarmed, and in a corner. She needed do something!

"I-I can't open it! I'm..." She struggled to think up a viable reason.

' _In the shower- You're in the shower!'_

"I'm in the shower!" Cyan echoed the supplied excuse.

' _Now hide in there and listen up!. You need to do exactly what I say_.'

The door to the room opened a crack and hit the side of the desk. The snarling snout of a wolf wedged itself past the doorframe. Cyan grabbed Orange by the wrist and dragged him to the bathroom, locking them in.

Leaving the light off, she prompted Orange to climb onto her back as he had done the night before. He gave a word of protest, but clammed up when someone tried twisting the knob of the bathroom door.

"Hold on, just let me find the key..." A man's voice murmured.

"Well hurry up then!" barked another voice.

The knob rattled, and Cyan took a heavy, laborous step into the shower. There was a wide array of buttons and levers fitted into it, each meeting the needs of a different monster. As instructed by her ghostly advisor, she hit a square button marked with the abbreviation 'MDBYG', and turned the handle to start the water. The showerhead whirred and spun until the nozzle was fit for the task it was assigned to do.

The children gawked at the sight before flinging their hands up to pinch their noses shut and cover their mouths. A thick, gooey sludge globbed it's way out of the pipes, running down their backs like molasses. Take the worst scent imaginable, mix it with sulfur, and that was what the stuff reeked of. It made their eyes sting to the point of tears; they dared not take a breath.

The door burst open and three shaggy hounds in armor filed into the room. They all whined and scrunched up their noses at the wretched odor of the slime. "That-" gagged the tallest of the three, "That is definitely NOT the smell we were tracking." The other two nodded woefully in agreement, eyeing the quad-armed ooze monster. "And you are most certainly not a human! Our sincerest apologies, we did not wish to disturb you."

Not wanting to embarrass the 'showering monster' any further (and just wanting to flee the horrid room in general), the troop made haste to exit as fast as they possibly could, tails between their legs. The innkeeper made sure to re-lock both of the doors before he left.

Orange and Cyan nearly made the mistake of exhaling in relief. If Chara had not told Cyan to leave the lights off, the guards might've seen that it was two slimy being lumped together, not one. But what sane human would ever douse themselves in Moldbygg slime?  
\---  
Rinsing off the worst of the gelatinous substance, their noses still burned as if breathing in skunk spray.

Sporting the bed sheet, Orange made another trip to the shop to stock up on food. He borrowed enough G from Cyan to buy more honey buns, a bisicle, a traveling cloak, and a pair of plain slip-on shoes for her fully-healed feet.

Equipping the bunny slippers, Cyan huddled under the cloak with Orange (because she wasn't about to let him steal the rabbit family's sheets) as they made their way back to Toriel's.

Except... Was he really going the right way? She didn't remember passing all the little igloo houses on the way here. And she was sure she would remember that library they were building from the misspelled sign that was being nailed on.

"What? Of course this is the right way!" Orange was offended when Cyan asked about it. "You were REALLY out of it. You probably don't remember it right."

There was some truth to this.

But...

'He's lying again.' Chara confirmed. 'He still wants to leave the Underground. Right now he's leading you us straight to Waterfall. There'll be more guards the closer we get to Asgore's castle- he's going to get himself killed.'

Cyan's face grew hot. After all they had just been through, he would still have them wander deeper into the vengeful monster's nest. She'd instigate a rematch of their fight to take him back to Toriel if that didn't mean causing a scene in the middle of the town.

"This is the wrong way." She said firmly to show she had called his bluff. "We agreed to go back to Toriel's, and that's what we're going to do!" She twisted around and proceeded in the proper direction towards the forest.

Orange jerked the cloak back the other way. Cyan had to halt her steps so that it wouldn't go flying off of her. "Look," Orange drawled, "We've already come this far. The end can't be much farther. You can't really want to stay down here in this dingy place for the rest of your life."

Cyan glared daggers at him. Of course she didn't, but the risk of leaving was a deadly one. She stood her ground, adamant even as Orange stretched the cloak to the point of creaking seams.

"If you don't start walking _right now_ ," Orange continued. "I SWEAR I'll leave you to walk back to dear sweet Toriel all by yourself, since you miss her so badly." He spoke like he might actually do it. "I get what I want, and you get what you want. _Happy_?"

Were it not for the part of Chara trapped inside him, Cyan wondered if she would even bother. But Chara WAS trapped within him, and it made his bargain an unfair one. She ground her teeth straining to think of a way to prove their existence to him.

She froze when a hand clamped down on her shoulder.

"Everything okay here, friend?"

The dog guard with a husky voice towered over them, and an absolutely MASSIVE dog in armor towered behind him. Their noses twitched at the faint smell of slime. Their tails ceased wagging when they caught sight of Cyan beneath the fabric.

"Wait a second-"

Without letting them complete the thought, Orange took off with a vice hold on Cyan's forearm.

When fully rested, his speed was nothing to sniff at. The guards were naturally agile, but their armor weighed them down so Orange was able to blow past them with ease. Cyan tripped and stumbled over rocks and ice, trying to keep up.

The snow quickly turned to slush underfoot, and the wintery temperature became more temperate. The land of Waterfall was misty and damp up ahead.

They ducked behind a boulder and waited for their pursuers to pass. Once the coast was clear, Cyan jabbed Orange in the side. "If you want to avoid being caught, you’re going to have to put a cap on those meltdowns."

"Really?" Orange groaned through panting breaths. "You're joking _now_?"

"That's what you get." Cyan said haughtily, hands on her hips.

"You've got to be kidding me. Maybe you didn't notice, but they had _swords_ pointed at us! They were going to--"

He cut off with an odd look on his face and began patting his pockets in a frenzy. Not finding what he was looking for, he pulled object after object out of his kangaroo pouch of a bandana before slouching in frustration.

"I left my gloves back at the Inn." He looked so defeated. Cyan hadn't seen this side of him before. It was sobering to know that he wasn't all arrogance all the time.

Distant howls sounded off in the distance, causing the children to flinch. "They're letting the other guards know that they spotted us," Cyan relayed from Chara.

"How would you even know that?" Orange said dubiously.

"I already told you how. Bottom line is that we won't be able to go back to the town if the other three guards are coming from that way. We have no choice but to move forward."

"Fine by me."

It looked like he was going to get his way again.

He still didn't believe her about Chara, of course, but both of them had grown terribly tired of arguing with the other. Right now, they just wanted to make it out alive.

  
_______

  
Cyan fell into a gloomy step behind Orange, neither of them speaking to the other, and neither of them knowing exactly where they were supposed to go. They waded through shallow patches of water to avoid leaving footprints or scent trails. It wasn't all bad, though. Their waterlogged shoes sloshed through the water like it was liquid glass, sending ripples across its surface in slow motion. With the bejeweled ceiling of the cavern reflected in the glassy stream, it was like they were walking through the night sky itself.

' _Hey._ ' Chara was prodding at Cyan's wayward thoughts. ' _I've been thinking... Did you live in a small town just on the outskirts of the mountain?'_

Cyan shook her head, swishing her ponytail, and Chara pulled her lips into a thoughtful frown. ' _I was just wondering if I ever could've seen you or Orange when I was alive.'_

"I mean, I _used_ to. I have a relative who lives there now. I was visiting her when I fell down... Why do you call  - ___ ***-** _ Orange?"

Chara giggled softly in an unsettling sort of way. ' _I can't hear either of your names. I've been calling you Cyan. Orange you glad I didn't call you Goldielocks?'_

"Excuse me?"

' _C'mon, I thought you were starting to like pun-making_ ,' Chara teased. ' _Sky might've been a better name for you. You're not really all that tough for a cool name like Cyan. Maybe I should've called you Skyan.'_

Cyan made no effort to catch her offense from falling into Chara's consciousness. 'Wait, so if I say --- ****_** , Toriel, **_*** _ _-_ , or Chara, you can't hear me?'

Cyan found her hand moving back and forth dismissively. ' _No no- I can hear Toriel just fine, but you two sound funny. Mine too._ '

"Why on earth would you be unable to hear your own name?"

' _Well...'_ They stopped to think for a moment. ' _I think it's sounded fine every time YOU'VE said it. But with Toriel it's like hearing through a tunnel.'_

Cyan furrowed her brow. She had just been given a puzzle that seemingly had no solution. Now there were two mysteries to solve. She still didn't understand how Chara had come to get into her mind in the first place. Were all the pieces there? Orange hosted them too...

' _Anyway,_ ' Chara continued, _'I've been digging around in Orange's head a little more and found out that he has the nightmares too._ '

"Really?" This surprised Cyan, but she really should've noticed when he knew exactly how to ward off the terrors. She sighed. She was normally quite astute when it came to reading people's true feelings. Then again, she _was_ a bit out of it at the time, and if Chara was having a hard time sensing his fear, that meant Orange wasn’t sensing it either… or at least, he didn’t want to.

' _Yep. Honestly, I was leaning into his mind a little more so I wouldn't have to feel the frostbite or punches to the gut._ ' Chara chuckled darkly. _'You know how it is.'_

Oh. That's right, she had to be carried on his back yesterday after she failed to stop him from leaving, just as she failed at stopping him today. She deflated and snapped the stem of a luminous flower from the riverbank. She was failing at her resolution to take care of herself (and everyone else as a result). "I'm sorry... I'll try not to get hurt anymore."

' _You couldn't really help it. I'm the one who pressured you to fight and forced you out the door. I guess it was kind of insensitive of me to just... ignore your hurt to get what I want...'_ They seemed really intent on staring at the ceiling.

Cyan could feel the familiar churning of their darkest regret bubble up inside her. "No, no! It's a good idea. You shouldn't have to hurt just because I do! Orange had plenty of energy to spare!" She was angry with herself. She wasn't strong enough to defend Chara. She wasn't smart enough to help them figure out why all of this was happening to them. Heck, if Chara hadn’t helped her hide this morning, both she and Orange would probably have been killed.

' _Cyan._ '

Come to think of it, the night of the fight Chara had chosen to shout vainly at Orange rather than ask Cyan for help. Of course they knew she would mess up. Were they avoiding her pain then, too?

' _CYAN._ '

Shecouldn'thelpTorieleither-ShelostherkidsandCyanjustupanddisappeared-thisiswhyshexouldntmakeanyfriends-ThisiswhySHEleft-shecouldn’tevenreigninherfeelings-shefeltsoutterly **WORTHLESS** -

"CYAN!"

Cyan's voice bounced off the cavern walls and across the water, completely decimating the tranquil silence.

Orange flinched and turned on his heel in an attack stance, disrupting the rippling aurora around him. He stared confused when he saw there was no apparent threat.

"Er..." Chara twirled the flower stem in Cyan's fingers. "That’s what that color is! The flowers here are such a lovely shade of cyan, heh..."

Orange dropped his arms and gaped in disbelief. He looked like he wanted to go on a rant (from the feel of it he DEFINITELY wanted to), but reigned himself in to giving a curt warning to stay quiet.

Now that they had an attentive audience, Chara directed their attention back to their host. ' _Just stop right there, okay? Listen, I don't know what made you hurt so much in the first place, no friends or whatever. I get that in a similar sense, but don't you DARE go saying you're worthless!'_

Cyan rubbed at the hem of her sleeve. "Chara... I know how you really feel about humanity... I'm a human, plain as the eye can see. You said it yourself at one point... We're hopeless. All I've suffered must seem so petty compared to what you've been through. What I've been through is nothing."

Chara cursed at themselves for leaving _that_ memory so vulnerable. " _I didn't mean YOU were hopeless. I was talking about the OTHER humans- the ones that only care about themselves- the ones that made you this way. Don't apologize for being upset. That's just you recognizing that something is wrong, and that something needs to be done about it. Pain is pain, even a little bit can hurt like all hell if you let it get to you.'_

Chara lifted Cyan's right arm to give her left a gentle pat. _'It isn't 'nothing'- so... I don't want to see you putting yourself down like that... Even if it's us against the world!'_

There was a stretch of silence, then the breezy sound of Cyan's quiet laughter. It felt like Chara was talking more about their own experiences rather than Cyan's, but it was comforting to have someone try to understand, all the same.

"Thank you, Chara. I'm glad to know that I'm able to give at least some hope in humanity... Do you feel the same way about, er, Orange?"

Chara gave an exasperated huff, meaning they felt roughly the same about him as Cyan did. ' _He doesn't really think things through for the long term- he's more of an 'in the moment' kind of guy, but I think get it now that I've walked in a little more than just his shoes. It's pretty amusing to listen to you guys bicker like old people or... siblings. He's actually glad to have you with him. He's the type of person who can't STAND being alone. Extroverts, am I right?'_

Cyan frowned in doubt. She figured he'd only been helping her because he had felt morally obligated to- like he had some kind of hero's complex or something. "Glad? This is the guy who almost ditched me in the middle of a town of soul-thirsty monsters!"

' _But he DIDN'T_.' Chara shrugged and rolled Cyan's eyes. ' _Trust me, I can practically read his-_ ' They cut themselves off abruptly.

' _THAT'S IT!!'_ they exclaimed in Cyan's head, causing her ears to ring somehow. They clenched her firsts in front of her in excitement. _'I'll tell you what he's thinking, and you'll be able to repeat it to him! It's so simple! I can't believe we didn't think of this earlier!'_

It was a good plan- one that would not only prove Chara's existence, but that Cyan wasn't crazy too. "What's he thinking right now?" she asked fervently.

' _He's-... Oh._ ' Chara's excitement dwindled, letting Cyan’s arms drop. _'Earlier, when he grabbed your arm- he... he saw._ '

He... saw?

But he was acting the same. He had given no indication that he noticed her scars at all. Despite having a vague idea of what he was feeling at all times, Cyan realized that he was an expert at hiding his true thoughts when he wanted to be.

"...What does he think about it?"

' _He's worried? Frustrated? Confused? Something like that... He's also thinking about someone else. Someone I don’t recognize... He might get defensive if you just start telling him I invaded his personal thoughts.'_

"Yeah..." Cyan's foot kicked at a blue-ish stone beneath the veil of silvery water before looking up at the back of Orange's head. "... I want to talk to him. Normally. Without arguing for once."

' _Suit yourself.'_

Cyan's quickened strides left long streams trailing behind her as she caught up to Orange. She opened her mouth to speak, but of course, Orange beat her to it.

"Hey, I was wonderin'," he began casually enough. "Do you have any hobbies?"

"...Hobbies?"

"Don't get me wrong, you irritate the HELL out of me. But other than that, I don't know much about you."

"Hmm." At first, Cyan had been a little unsettled about what he meant by 'hobbies', but she could soon tell that it was a sincere question- not trying to manipulate her into explaining what was 'wrong' with her. She had known people before like that. "Why don't you try and guess? I'll try and guess yours."

Orange seemed to consider this for a moment, and agreed to play along. "In your free time, you enjoy napping and knitting tiny sweaters for your eighty-five cats, and you spend your weekdays sipping tea and feeding birds on a park bench."

Cyan gave a sarcastic 'Haha' before carrying out her retaliation. "Well, it takes _you_ a gallon of gel to style your hair every morning. Then, you sprint three hundred miles in five minutes flat as practice for when the store has a sale on cinnamon-rolls."

Cyan half expected him to take offense, but he actually looked a little impressed. He swept a hand over his masterfully kept locks. "How else do you think I've kept every hair in place while down here?" he joked. "Your hair's all matted."

"I don't have a brush." Cyan shrugged with indifference. "It's not like I have to doll up for anyone down here- I'll get attacked either way. That's one benefit of the Underground."

Orange nodded in agreement at that last statement. "Heck, with all that slime that got dumped on us, we might as well have not even showered yesterday. Anyway, I totally nailed your hobbies, right?"

"Well, I'm allergic to cats, but I _do_ like bird watching. However..." Cyan chuckled with pseudo-villainy, "You've yet to guess my _secret pastime_."

Orange gulped, no doubt imagining Cyan committing numerous acts of deviance. "Uh... What is it?" Did he really want to know?

"Taekwondo!" she announced with pride. "I haven't gotten my black belt yet (I can't break the boards), but I'm getting close!"

Orange relaxed, but it _was_ a surprise. He might've even secretly thought it cool. "Well, you might've been able to guess that I like boxing (if we had been taking this seriously, that is), but I bet you wouldn't have guessed breakdancing!"

"I could've guessed that."

“ _Suuure_ you could’ve. And allergic to cats? I don’t know how you get by in life.” He thrust a pointed finger into the darkness of the cave. “Don’t look now, but there’s some right over there!”

Cyan twisted her head over her shoulder, expecting to see cat monsters in addition to the dog monsters, but there was just a row of cattails. She looked back at Orange’s smug face with incredulity.

“That’s what _you_ get.” He stuck out his tongue for good measure.

But now that her attention was brought back to the scenery, the waterway was now lined with pillars of rock that threw dreadful shadows this way and that. If there was a day-night cycle in the Underground, it wasn’t present here- most likely to keep the beauty of the glowing stones around 24/7. More importantly, she could see solid ground up ahead, tufted with long strands of sea-grass. It would be nice not to give their soggy feet a break from being submerged.

They hadn’t been walking on the land for more than a minute before coming to a wall with a spectacular pattern of gems. Some were large enough to look in like a mirror. The two of them looked even more worse for wear than they had at the Inn, clothes soaked and splattered with mud and mystery slime. Cyan sighed. Nothing she was wearing even belonged to her, yet she ruined it all in less than twenty-four hours. “My mom would have my head for this.”

“You said you didn’t care about your appearance in the Underground.”

“I don’t, but you know how it is on the surface. People treat you better when you meet their expectations, cover up your flaws, look… cute. I mean, I like to dress nice every once in a while, but…” Cyan stopped herself to decide whether or not to tell Orange the full story. He already knew her darkest secret, and who knew if they’d be able to get out of this cave alive or not.

Well, what difference would it make?

“It hurts to be close to someone who says they care, only to have them break off from you completely because you’re too ‘plain’ or you’re ‘a downer’. The day I fell down, I was taking a walk with my family- I wore the outfit my parent’s hated the most: My favorite short-sleeved gray dress complete with a bright red ribbon around my biggest ‘imperfection’. I wanted to see if they would notice if I just stayed behind…”

Beads of water gathered in her eyes, and fell to the ground with the drips from her hair and clothes like diamonds. Orange was still watching her. She didn’t care.

“I didn’t _mean_ to fall down! I didn’t _want_ this! I- I just…”

“[Cyan].” Orange gazed at her with solemn intensity. “I… I gotta be straight with you. I didn’t come here completely on purpose, either.”

Cyan looked up, the streams of moisture down her cheek ceased for the moment. “…What? ...But you said you wanted to be a hero.”

“Yeah, some hero I turned out to be.” He exhaled a humorless laugh and glared at his reflection. “ My brother and I practically grew up on the streets- me being the weaker link in the chain. I mean, I was pretty tough, but he was tougher than rawhide. Strong as I tried to be, he always ended up having to save my sorry butt.” He punched the wall with his bare fist, a tiny chip of stone broke off and fell to the floor. “So you gotta understand how dumb it was of me to try and find him after he got mixed up in some bad news.”

He had a sort of faraway look in his eyes as he recalled the memory. Cyan sensed this emotion more clearly than any other he had had before: the feeling of being trapped. He continued on. “They got to me first, of course. The monsters here might not be all that tough, but those guys? They were BIG. Like- punch a building into gravel kinda behemoths. They dragged me out into the woods and told me I could have him back if I did them a favor- prove my worth by going down here, finding him, and getting out of this hell hole alive. Now, at this point I figured my bro was had to be long gone… but it was either jump down or get ripped in half.”

Cyan didn’t know what to say… This was as open as Orange had ever been with her.

And it was scary.

He wasn’t as unfazed as he acted. He was just as scared as Cyan, and the truth became apparent- they were just two kids trapped under a mountain. There wasn’t really a way out, just ways to evade immediate death.

The two of them stood listening to the echoing droplets in a solemn silence before Orange placed his hands on her shoulders.

“But here’s where things get interesting.” He wasn’t finished yet. “When I found that I somehow hadn’t died from the fall, I looked around and saw that there weren’t any bodies laying at the bottom. So I thought ‘What if my bro was down here too?’ But later YOU told me that the only humans that had ever been down here were you and that Chara person. Do you know what that means?” His grip on Cyan’s shoulders tightened and his eyes flared with his usual energy. “They didn’t throw my bro down here. He could still be alive!”

Cyan did her best to smile. Sure, he _might_ be alive, but Orange was trapped underground. Even if they did get out somehow, Orange would be on the run from those other people, and Cyan… would she even be welcomed back? What was the point-

“One last thing,” Orange carried on, and Cyan met his eyes in the aquatic light. “I’m not just gushing my life’s story on you for no reason. This mountain’s always had old tales about kids disappearing around it, but the guys that threw me in? They heard of a disappearance that happened recently.”

Cyan’s heart rate quickened and her breath caught in her throat.

“Apparently a divorced couple was caught up in an argument while going on a walk with their daughter. They searched everywhere when they realized she was missing. They sent out search parties- the kind with dogs, ironically. Heck, I remember people from the neighboring towns came over to help search… Do you see what I’m getting at here? [Cyan]…”

She wasn’t sure she could bear it.

“They were _distraught_. They missed you. You can pretend all you want, but that’s the _truth_.”

…

She gave a faint laugh, unable to tell if she was still crying or not. She had known it from the start, but pretending made disappearing easier. Now, the lies she had told herself were exposed: She was missed, she was loved, and people were mourning over her in the same way Toriel mourned over Chara and Asriel.

It was time to let the lies fall away.

“…Thank you… I want… to help find a way out of the Underground,” she said with steadfast finality.

Orange brightened and pumped a fist into the air. “Yeah! We’re getting out of this cave one way or another!” He gave Cyan’s shoulder an enthusiastic, yet gentle punch. “And, hey.” He scratched his chin with an index finger in a shy sort of way, eyeing Cyan’s left sleeve. “It takes real guts to quit cold turkey like that… I mean it. You’re the coolest old lady I know.”

That was… sort of a compliment. Personally, Cyan would write Toriel as the winner of the Coolest Old Lady Competition, despite technically being ageless. Nevertheless, Cyan thanked Orange with a patient smile before continuing on their way.

 

But one question still remained.

How were they going to get past the barrier?

 

_______

 

Their footsteps were only interrupted by the faint rustling of tall grass. Chara warned Cyan about Waterfall's fluctuating tides. The constant shift in water level made the land almost maze-like. The children had met more than enough dead-ends to have their guard up. They didn't want to wind up pinned in another corner.

This part of Waterfall was especially scenic, overgrown with bizarre subterranean plants. The seemingly stagnant water was turned a brilliant turquoise from the bioluminescent moss. Both land lilies and water lilies thrived vividly by the flowing waterfalls; even some sort of alien trees were able to take root. All the glow of the more complex plant life made the grass look black in comparison. It could've been another planet.

Even so, the children were not prepared for the talking flowers.

'Nice day, isn't it?'

'About as nice as it can get down here.'

'Mommy! Mommy! I caught a lightning bug!'

'Careful, sweetie. Don't get too close to the water.'

'Nice nice isn't mommy? I get a to the water.'

‘Care-My get CloSe-tr.’

'NicE As CaUgHt MoTotHeWa-'

They repeated phrases to each other until it all became muddled together in an unintelligible mess. At the end of the day, it was just another way for the children to leave a trail. They attempted to communicate through gestures, Orange going out of his way to step on some of the flowers when he thought they’d picked up on something.

It seemed that their pursuers weren't as careful.

'-telling you, they'll end up getting married at some point, you just wait'

'They're still pups. Give it some time, will ya, Doug?'

'You can't deny the way they're always together. I'm calling it now, they're going to be nose-nuzzling champions some day!'

'Maybe they will. Hard to believe we still have those competitions now that the king and queen...'

The conversation trailed off as the speakers passed. Orange and Cyan moved on to the next flower to listen further.

The guard with the husky voice was speaking. It seemed all the dogs had met up.

'-hope he doesn't inherit it. It really is a pain only being able to see things that stand still. Anyway, how's your little one doing these days, Best?'

'BARKBARKWOOFYIP!'

'That great, huh?'

Orange and Cyan exchanged looks. The phrases hadn't overlapped at all, meaning the dogs were still close by.

"We might have to force our way by at this point," Orange said in a hushed voice. "Everywhere else led to a dead end."

Cyan crossed her arms. "I don't want to hurt them though. It sounds like they all have a family to look after."

"I don't get why you care- they're the ones hurting us!"

"You really want to hurt a dog?"

"No.... But how else are we going to get by?"

Cyan shifted her weight from foot to foot, thinking back to the Froggit family's request. "...Just don't kill them, okay?"

Orange nodded in agreement, and crushed a nearby flower under his sneaker.

  
_______

 

They had finally reached the end of the overgrown maze, only to confirm their suspicions. Five dog guards were blocking off what appeared to be the only way forward.

Two against five.

They were outnumbered and out matched, but they didn't need to beat them. They just needed to get by. Even so, they couldn't just charge through. They would need to proceed with the utmost caution.

"SQUIRREL!!"

Ten ears flicked to high alert in the direction of the sound. Eight eyes fell on the cloaked figure sprinting along the water bank. Their friendly conversation halted, displaced by snarling and low-throated howls that thickened the rushing wind.

The figure ducked behind a thicket of bushes. The cavalry quickly bounded  
over, sniffing and digging at the entanglement of branches.

The medium-sized dog seized the cloak in his paw. "Got you!" He raised his axe high above his head.

"Nooo! Please!" A voice cried out.

The blade came down and sliced the cloak neatly in two, wedging itself in the stump it was draped over. The deceived dog yanked and tugged at his weapon, but it stuck fast in the wood.

'Barking up the wrong tree' would be the phrase Cyan would've used had the situation not been so dire. Right now, she focused on fastening Orange's rope around their waists, connecting the two of them. Her cold, numb fingers made her fumble over the knots. Her heart jumped to her throat when the orange and aqua lights flew up from their chests.

The two smaller dogs were the first to round the thorny underbrush. They stampeded near, brandishing their swords and shields.

Once Cyan had successfully tethered her partner to her body, the two broke off in opposing directions, rope taut between them.

They charged forward, clotheslining their foes around their lower bodies. The two hounds toppled over into the glowing pond, losing their weapons in the water.

Three down! Now was the time to slip by! Orange and Cyan, still three arm-lengths away from each other, rushed to re-convene.

But an absolute MAMMOTH of a dog stood like a boulder in the way of their rope, effectively yanking the two of them to the ground with the wind knocked from their lungs.

The canine monster dominated over Cyan, who had been closer, and raised a flashing spear in her massive paws.

Pinned, Cyan froze and squeezed her eyes shut as the point was driven into her torso.

After a moment of what seemed like nothing happening, Cyan opened one eye to peek at the weapon lodged in her torso. It was a beautiful shade of what could only be described as a light sky blue, and it passed through her without harm.

That is- it would've been without harm if it weren't for the husky dog finally being able to see his target. He stormed over with a dagger that flashed between white and a blazing orange.

But Cyan's ally had recovered from his fall fast enough to ram himself into the behemoth dog at full force. She barely stumbled from the impact, but her spear swung away so that it phased right out of Cyan.

She pushed herself off the ground, making sure to keep herself moving to avoid that doggone dagger.

Orange took her hand to try and make a break for it again, but dear old Best Dog let out an earth-shaking WOOF that sent the two of them toppling into the luminous pond. The sparkling walls of the cavern spun around them like a kaleidoscope.

They smacked against an aquatic tree that rose above the waves, knocking off some kind of fruit with a hard shell into the water. The children bobbed among the apples, Cyan's robes ballooning out like a jellyfish.

The three weaponless hounds splashed near to them, preparing to lunge with tooth and claw.

Cyan and Orange scrambled up the tree, scraping their knees on its scaly bark. Orange tore part of his pant leg before they reached the top.

The big dog began pounding at the trunk, the others leaping to try and snatch the rope dangling just beneath children's legs.

It was only a matter of time before the trunk gave out.

' _The Crab Apple_!'

Cyan wound her hand around the crustaceous fruit, reeled back her arm, and hurled the thing back towards the maze area.

"FETCH!!"

The dogs stopped their clawing and turned their heads to the flying object.

There was a pause where each of their heads tilted to the side. Then, the largest's tail began to swish back and forth in the settling water. She gave a loud BARK, and bounded after it with three of the other dogs in pursuit.

"Guys?" the husky woofed. "Where did you go? Did we get the human?"

Cyan and Orange slid down the trunk, staying quietly in motion to sneak past the confused guard. They didn't stop until they were a great distance from the turquoise room.

_______

 

The rocky pathway dipped down, vanishing under the deep, wild waters. The monsters built a bridge leading over it, but judging from the lines on its support posts the level of the water had once been higher. The muffled sound of rainfall could be heard from the cave top. It must’ve been quite the storm, as a network of rivulets trailed along the ceiling to shower down on the ever-fleeing children. At least they didn’t have to swim through an underground lake.

The bridge ended, turning into land once more. Orange knelt to place a bandage on a scrape beneath a tear in the knee of his sweatpants. “Geez, I can’t believe we actually got out of that alive. I seriously didn’t think the rope-thing would work, but all your ideas worked like a charm. You’d make a great battle strategist.”

Cyan shook her head. “No, I really wouldn’t. I freeze up a lot and don’t always think thing through practically.”

A single raindrop plopped onto Orange’s nose, making him blink in surprise. “What? You can’t say that- you’re the reason we got out of the room at the Inn, too. You’re resourceful as heck!”

Cyan smiled weakly, and the two carried on their walk through the stretching tunnel. There was the odd monster here or there, but none of them seemed to pay much mind to the children as they snuck by.

_‘Hey. If you’re feeling guilty about taking all the credit, why don’t we just read his mind already? Are you afraid he’ll get annoyed at you for bringing it up again?’_

Cyan frowned, knowing the hurt of being invisible to others. “That’s not it. It just… seems like an invasion of personal space. He might not take the whole ‘being possessed thing’ well, especially if he isn’t very open about his feelings in the first place.”

 _‘But if he knows that I’m there he might actually be able to hear me. We still need to convince him to go back to Toriel. That’s what you REALLY want, right? I’d be able to help with that…’_ Chara trailed off as the tunnel broke away to reveal the open cavern.

Cyan couldn’t see the end of it. It looked like it might go on forever; she wasn’t even sure if what was below was land or water. Sea green lights hung twinkling from the ceiling. Alit in a spotlight of the iridescent crystals tower the castle. Chara’s old home. Cyan’s eyes were transfixed upon it.

_‘…What? Don’t tell me you’re actually going to try to leave? I told you, you can’t get out. You’d need a boss monster’s soul. You’re only going to get yourselves killed.’_

“Chara,” Cyan’s speech was somber. “We… miss our families. I realize now that staying here forever was just a fantasy. There has to be someway out. I think we can do it!”

 _‘You’re only HALFWAY to the castle,’_ Chara enlightened. ‘ _You’re nearly out of food, and those guards won’t chase that apple forever. I’ll bet they’re back on your trail already. What good would it do running back to the humans anyway? Don’t you hate them for what they did to yo_ u?’

“What happened to me isn’t anyone’s fault. Sure, we’re the farthest thing from perfect, but… they’re still my family. I still love them.”

 _‘Yeah, well, family and friends can betray you, too,’_ Chara scoffed. _‘Orange here? He’ll never try ‘talking it out’- you should know that from when he nearly knocked you unconscious. Let me tell you what’s going to happen to him. He’s going to march right up to Asgore, get his soul stolen, and then Asgore is going to wage war against humanity. Thousands of families are going to be destroyed, and who’s fault is it going to be? Tell me what good that will do.’_

Cyan’s arm began to itch like the bite of an insect, but she wasn’t going to give up just yet. “That’s why… I figured we could talk to Asgore. I’m sure he’ll understand if--“

“Looks like we need to climb here,” Orange unknowingly interrupted. The two of them had come to a steep ledge without a foothold in sight. “Hey, stand on my back and pull yourself up.” He got down on his hands and knees to make a platform with his body.

Cyan managed to get a leg over the edge and onto the ground above. Before she could ask how he was going to get up, he tossed the rope up for her to hold. She held fast as he scaled the wall.

“Man, this rope really IS awesome!” He regarded it proudly before tucking it away under his bandana.

His enthusiasm was infectious, and Cyan couldn’t help but smile. They could do this. She just had to keep telling herself that.

Up ahead was a dock, but… it didn’t seem to lead anywhere. It twisted and turned this way and that, but had no identifiable destination. There were some monsters walking along another dock that was a level below them. Cyan suspected the one she stood on now was used when the water level had been higher.

Upon closer inspection, small (yet powerful) geysers of water gushed up from the ground below. They rose all the way to the docks, which the monster below seemed to be using as systems of transport. They would stack boxes onto the geysers while they were at the dock, and the geyser would lower the box safely to the ground level.

There was a sudden KA-RUNCHing sound from below. “Careful!” an elderly monster scolded a younger one. “Stack too much on one geyser and it won’t work! Yeesh, those bridge parts are probably in splinters from a fall like that.” Peering down, sure enough, there was a wreckage of ruined materials scattered around the stalagmites.

By no means were the geysers meant to be used as elevators, but the children might be able to ride down if they went one at a time.

“You go first.” Cyan fiddled with the ribbon in her hair. “I’ll, um, catch the next one, and meet you at the bottom.”

“Well, if you’re THAT scared.” Orange rolled his eyes and gave her a hearty punch to the shoulder. “Alright, then fraidy allergic-to-cats. Don’t wet your pants on the way down. Er- actually, that’s probably inevitable.”

Orange scratched the back of his neck, and a geyser rose to the dock a short ways away. “There’s my ride.” He carefully positioned himself on the large spout of water. He looked nervous about balancing on the moving pillar, but he lifted a hand to give a bright grin and a thumbs up.

“Don’t miss me too much, ok?”

Cyan smiled and waved back at him, watching as he lowered down out of her immediate sight. She was left standing alone in the cold, misty shadows.

She turned to walk back down the corridor.

_‘Cyan? Where are you going?’_

She jumped down the steep ledge and kept moving.

_‘Cyan, the dogs are this way- what are you DOING?!’_

"You were right when you said Orange wouldn't go along with talking it out." Her face was drained of blood, leaving her pale as paper, but she kept walking still. "I can't stop him from trying to leave, but I can try to talk Asgore out of inciting a war."

_‘You've been waiting for a chance to ditch him this whole time? YOU’LL DIE IF YOU GET CAUGHT. YOU’RE GOING TO GET ME KILLED.’_

“I-if they attack me,” Cyan’s voice caught in her throat, “Switch to Orange’s mind where it’s safe.”

Chara tried to take control over her body, but to no avail. Cyan wasn’t letting up. She came to the opening with the castle in view to see a silhouette approaching, sniffing along the cave floor as it walked.

Cyan’s foot kicked a small collection of stones, sending them skittering across the rock. The silhouette’s ears perked up, and it swiveled its head around, unable to see the girl drawing near

_‘DON’T—‘_

Cyan came to a stop.

“Is that… THE HUMAN!” Doggone drew his dagger and rushed at the immobile figure.

“I surrender!” She threw her hands up like a white flag.

Doggone screeched to a stop, nose twitching in suspicion. “You… aren’t going to fight? Or run?”

Cyan shook her head, but realized the wary canine wouldn’t be able to see it.

“I won’t.”

“Sounds like a dirty trick...” he inched forward untrustingly, but Best dog came bounding past him. She nearly tackled Cyan, but only began sniffing her with vigor. She gave a decisive YIP.

“Two humans?” Doggone responded. “I only saw the one-“

“It’s just me.” Cyan’s voice and body quaked, but her eyes remained still and fearless. “Please. Take me to Asgore.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer" Romans 12:12 (KJV)
> 
> Finally back from Work Camp and vacation! I hope it was worth the wait. I decided to put a section of this chapter into the next one since this one was already pretty long. Speaking of long, let me know in the comments if you want me to shorten the title to just 'Bleeding Heart' or not. Also, what's the worst smell you've ever had the grace to experience? Expired watermelon anyone?
> 
> EDIT: I moved the previously mentioned section back into this chapter to help it flow better.


	10. Ball is Small

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cyan and Orange make an attempt to leave the Underground.

It might’ve taken another day or two for Cyan and Orange to make it to the castle at the pace they had been going, but the guards got to the newly built ‘Core’ just before nightfall. Orange wouldn’t be catching up to her. Even without the guards forcing him to hide or re-route, he didn’t know the direct path to the castle like the guards did. Cyan walked in silence, a guard on either side of her. They shielded her out of the sight of curious monsters as they rounded an apartment building. The red dusk of Hotland mingled with the computerized neon glow of the Core.

Doggone typed a code into a keypad on the wall, and a map of the building appeared on the screen connected to it. “Hmph. Just _had_ to be this layout,” Doggone grumbled. “ Elevators are down, laser’s are on the fritz. I swear, if the exit is blocked off again…”

He directed Cyan down corridor after corridor, growling in annoyance each time he had to switch off an assail of lasers. There were a few monsters scurrying around in lab coats, but other than a Froggit greeting Best with a ‘woof’, they were too engrossed in their work to throw more than a glance in the guards’ direction. The guards eventually came to what was supposed to be the exit, only to find it blocked by an electric force field.

“Tch. Of course. Best, stay here and keep an eye on the human while I flag down a someone who knows how to unlock the door.” Giving the human a disgusted glare, Doggone ran off to try and find a scientist that was idle enough for him to see, and Cyan was alone with her thoughts.

‘ _Now’s your chance- you can still get away! Run!_ ’

“I’m not running away from this.” Her throat was dry.

‘ _You don’t know if Asgore’ll even listen! You remember what Toriel said- that ‘every human that falls down here must die’. I get the whole ‘take my soul instead of Orange’s’ thing, but you’re still staking the lives of every human on the surface!_ ’

“Chara…” Cyan closed her eyes, focusing on keeping her body from shaking. “If we stay, monsterkind’s hatred for humanity will only continue to grow. And if they ever do get out, this mountain will erupt with animosity. Time won’t heal all wounds if it’s spent telling lies to yourself. I can’t leave things as they are.We have to get through to him somehow.”

Chara remembered Cyan’s passionate resolution she made with Orange and sighed in defeat. ‘ _So what exactly is your oh-so-brilliant plan?_ ’

“Asgore’s your father, and you told me how he loved you before. If we explain that you’re still here, he might remember that not all humans are bad. Then maybe we can figure out another way past the barrier… I’m sorry, I couldn't think of anything better, but I didn’t think Orange and I would be strong enough to make it out on our own.”

‘ _No_ ,’ Chara agreed. ‘ _Neither of us have been able to think clearly, and neither of us knows how to fight Dad. Maybe… maybe whatever it is that you’ve got will be enough. Just do me a favor and try not to get me killed._ ’

Cyan tasted the salt of a tear that ran into her mouth. She fought them back in silence until the force field was shut off.

“Okay.” Doggone dusted of his paws when he returned. “We’ll walk to the end of the Core and trade the human off to the guards at the castle. Whether the King’ll see ‘em or not is up to him.”

_______

 

The next pair of guards were covered head-to-toe in armor so that Cyan was unable to see their faces. It made them look an awful lot like executioners. They didn’t speak as they led her into the elevator leading to the back of the house mirroring Toriel’s. It seemed they were up and running again.

That is- they didn’t speak until they came to the hallway made of gold. They ceased their walk to give a short narration. “A long time ago, a human fell into the Ruins…” Cyan heard this story already, so she let her gaze wander to the window to the barrier.

_I can do this… I can do this… Stay calm, no one is going to get hurt…._

A group of birds flew by, singing softly in the pale yellow moon light of the surface. It was a comforting sight, seeing them carry on together despite their circumstances. She _could_ do this.

And she was filled with a patient determination.

A loud chime sounded through the hallway, and Cyan jumped.

A bright light had sprung up by her feet, twinkling without rest. She bent down to inspect it, but one of the guards prodded her to continue walking. He didn’t seem to be able to see the odd light, and Cyan strained to look back at it before she was escorted out of the hall.

“Wait here,” spoke the guard once they stood outside the chamber labeled ‘Throne Room’. Cyan stayed put with the other guard, but leaned forward to peek inside. There was a tall, bulky figure wearing a cloak and armor.

ASGORE DREEMUR.

The King of All Monsters. He looked exactly the way Chara had described him, yet…

Something was very _very_ wrong.

The air hung around him like coarse wool, and he faced the guard to speak in an inaudibly low voice. She could barely see his eyes beyond the shadow of his hung head, but they were filled to the brim with hatred so cold and dead that all of Snowdin’s icicles couldn’t pierce it.

He lifted his head to face the room’s entrance, and Cyan felt Chara freeze as if caught in headlights.

They had never seen that expression on him before.

He looked like a true beast.

His voice was even more condemning, and it thundered off the walls.

**”Show me the creature that destroyed my family.”**

The guard pushed Cyan forward, and she stumbled into the garden. She flinched upon impact with the blackened floor. Everything that had been planted here had been burned away long ago. All except for the posy of golden flowers growing at the foot of the throne. One stood taller than the other eight surrounding it. It felt like it was watching her.

Chara’s memories of the garden melted into Cyan’s, and the flower might as well have been a thorn bush.

She took quick, shallow breaths and slowly lifted her head. She stared up at the king with her wide eyes meeting his. He continued to stare, and his eyes, too, seemed to widen. Was something about her… unexpected?

“We shall not fight in the garden,” he spoke without emotion. “Come, lead the human to the barrier’s edge.”

… _Fight?_

The faceless guards took Cyan by the arms and ushered her behind the king and down the grayed out halls. The prisoner had been read her sentence. There would be no compromise.

_Chara. Chara, please, you need to think of something to say to your father._

There was only the convicting sound of armored boots clanking down the corridor.

_Chara, please!_

‘ _The creature that… destroyed…_ ’

The barrier was now in full view, and Cyan was thrust into the empty space with the king.

“Guards, you may leave,” Asgore dismissed without facing them.

They gave a “Yes, majesty!” and vanished out of sight.

Cyan was left alone in the ever-shifting chamber against the most powerful monster in the Underground. And she was being sentenced without trial. If things went on as they were… Cyan didn’t like her chances of ever seeing her family again.

“A-Asgore, sir. I- I don’t want…”

She couldn’t think of the words, so Asgore spoke instead.

“Human. I do not wish to end your life when you are so young. However, understand that I am doing this for the good of all monsterkind.” His eyes were still locked with Cyan’s, but he didn't seem to see her. “Your death will not be in vain. Forgive me.”

Cyan took a step back towards the pillared exit. Asgore waved a hand out from beneath his cloak, and great jets of flame burst forth to bar her way. The barrier let the night’s breeze pass through it to billow the flames, but sealed it in like a bottled vortex.

A floating aqua heart stood out against the roaring flames.

Asgore stretched an arm above his horned head, and with the flash of a lightning, he conjured a whirlwind of fireballs. The sparked and swirled around Cyan, and she twisted her body violently to avoid the white-hot flares.

She didn’t make it out of the last ring fast enough, and it clipped her shoulder. The fire quickly ate through her sleeve, and seared her skin. She staggered forwards to move away from the inferno, but Asgore was already preparing his next attack.

He summoned a trident from beneath his cape.

It was red as ribbons.

Red as leaves.

Red as blood.

He slammed it to the ground, sending fire blossoming forth like fireworks. They hurtled at the girl in the singed robes.

She weaved between the openings, flames crackling at her ankles. Each dodge brought her closer and closer to her attacker.

Would he tire if she kept it up? Or would he attack until there was nothing left? She needed to reach him before she found out the answer.

“P-please! Wait!”

But she had gotten too close. He swung out the trident, knocking her to the ground. She pushed herself back up, dodging a stray fireball as she did.

She didn’t see the trident swing back around, sharpened prongs aimed directly at her chest. A cry caught in her throat, and didn’t make it out.

The world froze like it was encased in stone. All the color drained away in her vision, leaving everything fuzzy and gray. All except for the orange glow of the trident. Asgore moved near in slow motion.

“Human… I truly am sorry.”

_No…._

Without warning and all at once, everything began to move much too fast in the wrong direction, and she was flung back through the corridors at twice the speed of gravity.

.

.

.

She opened her eyes. First her left. Then her right. She looked around at the golden corridor with uncomprehending eyes.

‘ _…Cyan? What happened? How’d you get away?_ ’

Chara was still here? Had they left before…? Or did that even happen?

She took several deep breaths, and looked down to rest a hand on her un-stabbed chest. She felt a sudden prodding at her back.

“Hey! Human! Get moving, the king’s waiting!” The guard gave her a push forward. “Didn’t you hear what I just said? We’re going to use your soul to cross the barrier!”

Cyan planted her feet into the ground, struggling to escape the guard’s hold on her arm. Her slippers screeched against the floor as she was dragged wide-eyed to the throne room.

_______

 

Orange was wearing a ditch into the earth with his pacing, craning his neck to look up at the docks above.

_What is taking her so long? [Cyan] is slow, but she isn’t THIS slow. Here comes a geyser. Maybe she’s on that one… No. She’s not. Well, it WAS pretty far away. Maybe she’s waiting for a closer one…_

_…_

_Is she THAT afraid of heights?_

_Maybe I’ll just go check._

Orange rode the geyser back to the top, and looked around. No one was there. He jogged back to the ledge, and she wasn’t there either. Surely he would’ve seen her if she had ridden a geyser, but he went back down just to make double check. He looked all around the bottom to make sure that she hadn’t fallen to her death, and when he came up empty, he walked off in each direction to try and find her.

No, she wasn’t down here. Did he just miss her? Or…?

He dashed back to the geysers and rode to the top again. She wouldn’t go back to Toriel’s would she? When she said she wanted to help him get out she was crying- not the typical expression of deceit. He jumped back down the ledge and kept running. He paused by the castle’s overlook to see the artificial light starting to dim…

No.

She _wouldn’t._

A persistent thought in the back of his head said she would.

He got a strange sensation- like someone had taken a picture of him doing something embarrassing. _Stupid, stupid, STUPID! WHY would she go to the castle alone?_ He could feel the castle tugging him closer, pulling him in. But how would he get there?

He ran back to the ledge, and tossed up the rope. It landed uselessly at the top with nothing to hold it there. He tried again, aiming to snag it on a cluster of rocks. It bounced off the top of them.

“ _Whoa_ there, pardner! Watch where you throw those things.”

Orange stared blankly at the rock monster, but quickly shook away his confusion. This was not the weirdest thing to happen to him in the underground. “Will you hold the rope down while I climb up?”

“ _Hmm?_ Hold down the rope? Alrighty then, pumpkin.”

Orange didn’t respond to that last part, and started climbing the rope.

The rock moved off the rope, and Orange fell flat on his butt.

“Ow! What was THAT for?!”

“ _Hmm?_ You wanted me to _stay_ there? Okay, I think I’ve got it now.”

Orange climbed back up the ledge, bracing himself in case the rock decided to drop him again.

“Don’t be a stranger, stranger!’ the rock called as Orange sprinted back to the geysers.

Once at the bottom, he ran in the direction he thought would get him to the castle. Eventually, the blue stone was replaced with red, and night had completely fallen.

Orange’s running began to get slower. And slower still, until he slowed to a walking pace, but…

It wasn’t him that was slowing down?

He blinked and looked around.

He was back at the castle overlook.

The castle looked like it was taunting him, and he had to pinch his arm to make sure he hadn’t imagined the whole thing. What was going _on?_ He walked dubiously to the ledge and threw the rope at the rock.

“ _Whoa_ there, pard-“

“Hold down the rope and STAY there,” Orange tested.

“Ooookaaay,” the rock responded, and did so.

Orange tried running to the castle again, and got as far as the gusty mountain near the lava area before being sent to the ledge again…

And again…

And again……..

“Oh, Come on! That was the shortest one yet!” He had thought the windows of time had been getting longer, but he hadn’t even made it past the turtle guy’s shop that time. It became apparent that he wasn’t moving fast enough, so he’d just have to run faster.

This time, he got to the shop and made a wrong turn, coming to a dead end. He was about to kick himself when he heard someone singing.

“Tra la la. I am the riverman. Or am I the riverwoman? Care to join me on a ride to Hotland?”

Grateful for a shortcut, Orange accepted the offer.

“Tra la la. When the elevators aren’t down, they can really lift a ghost’s spirits. Tra la la.”

_______

 

Dodge left-

Dodge right-

Dodge right, eyes forward-

Duck!

_I can’t… I can’t…_

‘ _You have to. Fire circles!_ ’

_Have… to…_

Twist. Turn. Twist. Spin. Don’t. Trip. Like last time- Good.

Now, try talking again.

But there was nothing to say.

Think of something.

So tired…

Something else!

Sparks ignited the ground, and Cyan’s ears buzzed from the deafening roar of flames. She moved herself out of range of the scorching bullets like a robot trying to dance. Four more attacks until she didn’t know what came next.

Three… Two…One.

Embers flowered from the trident in a close-knit spiral. The edges of Cyan’s ponytail were singed, and her ribbon came undone, burning up as it fell. Once the attack was complete, she patted down her hair. Everything smelled like smoke and charcoal.

What next?

Asgore’s held out his trident for another close-up attack. Cyan bent her wobbling knees and got ready to defend herself. Trying to talk made him attack. Fighting back made him attack. Maybe if she didn’t move he wouldn’t attack, and they could just stand there doing nothing forever. What a nice thought.

She saw something leap out of the flames in the corner of her eye.

It tucked and rolled the landing before charging head on at Asgore, and Cyan realized with horror what the thing was.

Orange drew back a fist and let out a yell.

“[ORANGE], WAIT!”

Asgore was already in mid attack, thrusting the trident towards the approaching form he mistook for Cyan. It flashed sky blue, and Cyan rushed to plant herself in front of her friend, arms spread wide.

The blade phased through her, whipping her hair into her face.

Asgore struck Orange instead.

Cyan dared not look behind her with the rod of the weapon still lodged in her chest, but she heard a choking sound followed by something falling to the ground. The trident was removed from her body, blood staining the three prongs.

And time should rewind for him too, right?

_Right?_

“H-how… did you get here?” Asgore looked down at the human laying before him, and then at the one that was still standing. For just a moment, he looked… horrified. He remorsefully kneeled by the orange heart, laid down his weapon, and produced a glass canister from within his cape.

He was going to take Orange’s soul.

Asgore moved to hold the shivering soul into his cupped paws, only to have them knocked away with a fierce knife hand strike.

Cyan had approached without the king noticing she had moved at all. She had a manic look in her reddened eyes as she snatched the trident from the ground.

“C-Chara?”

‘ _Orange gave us a window. We’re… going to use it!_ ’

They swung at Asgore and struck his armor. As bulky as he was, he wasn’t any good at dodging, and was buffeted away from the impact.

“Chara, you _can’t_ . He’s your father!”

‘ _I know- I mean— He- … I DON’T KNOW!_ ’

Asgore recovered, and took a grim stance. He swept his arms outward sending blooms of heat exploding Cyan’s way.

She held her ground in front of Orange’s body, gripping the sky blue trident until her knuckles turned white. She staggered under it’s top-heavy weight, its size far from appropriate for her. She blocked the smaller fireballs, but a larger one was on its way. She gave it a swing, and although she redirected the bullet, the weapon threw her off balance, and its top clamored to the floor.

Asgore was moving closer now, shooting out bullets like a wave of fireflies in the night.

Cyan couldn’t lift the trident! But if she dropped it, Asgore would take it again and- and-

The top of trident lifted off the ground and turned on its side to block the spray of bullets.

Orange held it up, one hand wrapped around his side. There was a gouge in his bandana where he had been struck. All of its contents had fallen out and been incinerated, save for a sticky wrapper printed with a rabbit logo.

“You’re alive!” Cyan gasped and put a trembling hand to her face.

“Yep. And- nngh- PRETTY ticked off about you leaving.” His usual grin was contorted into a grimace. “Let’s get outta here already, huh?”

“Humans.” Asgore’s voice shook the churning barrier walls. “This is the end. Prepare yourselves!”

There was a clap like thunder, and spires of flame burst forth like dragon’s breath. The walls were engulfed in inferno, forming a blazing dome over the area. Fireballs shot out of it from every angle. The children dodged, each with a hand on either end of the trident.

Asgore stood in the center, directing each of his attacks. The children rushed at him with the trident between them to knock him down.

The staff made a powerful contact to his gut, knocking the wind out of him, but it wasn’t enough to force him to the ground. The trident clattered to the floor, and Orange clutched his side in pain. It was the opening she had been waiting for. The fire dome was closing in on them quickly. 

‘ _NOW!_ ’

Cyan twisted and turned around the bullets to grab the front of the trident, aiming the prongs at Asgore. Orange managed to grab the bottom end.

Together, they thrust it forward with all their might.

Metal struck metal, and Asgore's ruined armor fell to the floor.

“….”

“Ha….Ha…”

The fire dissipated, and the cloudy night sky murmured outside the barrier. Asgore knelt to the ground. “It would seem… that I have failed yet again… I wasn not able to save my people… But human-“ he lifted his vacant eyes to Cyan, “You may still save yourself… You are so young… take my soul and leave this cursed place.”

Cyan reached her hands out to the fading king, and was overcome by a surge of memories.

“…Dad?” Chara called out.

Asgore was turning into dust.

The man who took them into his own family when they had none.

The man who held them close and wiped away their tears.

The man who promised not to let anyone harm them.

Cyan felt her eyes sting as she laid her hands over the mound of ash.

The King of Monsters had been dethroned.

A tiny, upside down heart alighted above Cyan’s hands, fragile and white.

“Take his soul?” Cyan’s voice was once again her own. “But what about—[Orange]!” She spun around and stumbled over to him.

“That was Chara, right?” He lay collapsed on the ground, taking short, raspy breaths. “Heh… Guess I finally heard them. Sorry about that….”

“H-hey! Don’t close your eyes! Stay with me, okay? We have to go home!”

‘ _The requirement is one monster soul per passenger. Only one of you would be able to leave with Dad’s…. Dad’s…_ ’

“Go on,” Orange coughed a spot of blood onto the floor. “You’d probably make it farther than—nnngh!” He screwed his eyes tight and put a hand to his head.

“No.”

His voice sounded off.

Cyan leaned closer to her friend. “…[Orange]? Are you-“

“My dad is dead, and Orange is dying. The plan was to convince Asgore to find another way past the barrier, and that’s what we’re going to do.” Orange’s hand shakily wrapped itself around the top of the trident as it flared up in an orange glow.

“Ch-Chara? But—“ Cyan stammered.

“But what?” Orange’s voice was strangled and alien sounding. “You’re fine with leaving it like this? With leaving your friend to die when you can easily save him? Trust me, I tried that once, and the memory NEVER lets you rest.”

Chara lined up the trident to point at Cyan’s heart. She tensed, remembering that Chara had hurt her once before.

“You said you wanted to help him get out, didn't you? And hey, this guy’s pretty good at suppressing his memories, right? So I’ll bet if I can latch onto the memories of the reset, I can make sure he doesn’t come here to stop you. He’ll forget. Just like everyone else.”

_But I don’t think… I can do it all again. He wouldn’t agree to this if it was up to him…_

_But i_ _f there's an outcome where no one has to die..._

Orange opened his crimson eyes and gave a smile that was unnaturally-wide, even for him. The residual red-orange light of the dying flames lit his face from below. Cyan backed away instinctively. “We can do better, can’t we? The resets have worked every time so far, there's nothing to hesitate about. Whaddaya say, partner?”

Cyan looked at the broken body lying before her, then to the soul in her dust covered hands.

Slowly, she let go of the soul and squeezed her eyes shut.

Chara reset the clock.

_______

 

She stared at the floor of the golden hallway. The birds were still singing, the guards were still talking, and her hands were still numb.

_He doesn’t remember?_

‘ _Not a thing. I’ll keep him out of trouble. Now. Let’s give this another shot._ ’

Cyan let the guards drag her all the way to the throne room without bothering to pick up her feet.

She felt… like she could think a little clearer now.

The idea of escape wasn’t entirely hopeless. She just had to hang on… Somehow.

Twirl. Sidestep. Twirl. Sidestep.

Just like Toriel taught her.

Asgore recognized the dodging pattern Cyan had adopted. The memory seemed to make his attacks more bearable. She tried to keep close to him, since the trident was a weapon of long range, and so were most of his fire attacks. From far away, it might’ve looked like a waltz.

Chara still couldn't bring themselves to speak to their father, but using the memories that had surfaced deep within them, Cyan finally found the words needed to defuse Asgore's hatred.

Each time Asgore’s attacks missed, Cyan would try to convince him to forgive the humans. She explained that war would tear families apart, and that she understood what that felt like.

She knew he understood, too.

Asgore’s expression morphed from hatred to sorrow more and more with every missed attack. He didn’t seem so big and scary anymore. He actually looked… kind of small.

But Cyan couldn’t dodge forever.

Once again, she found herself lying on the ghostly floor with her left hand cradling her chest. She looked up at the barrier. She couldn’t see the stars past the blurry clouds, but she could hear them whispering through the rolling thunder. Asgore kneeled beside her with the glass cylinder.

_Chara._

‘ _I think we got to him a little. Next time will be the one. We can do this!_ ’

_I don’t want to die, Chara. I never did… Even when I cut- it's not what I really wanted._

_I want you to know that._

‘ _Of course! You deserve better than this, so we’re making it happen. Just… Just hang in there._ ’

_I just wanted to see my family together again...I was able to see how much your family still cares for you…._

‘ _Cyan? Wait a second! Hold on-_ ’

_So please… take care of yourself, okay? Orange too._

Something cold shot through the air.

‘ _Wh-what did you just- D-don’t you DARE die on me!_ ’

….

‘ _Do you hear me?! I won’t let you!'_

_'I refu—_

_______

 

Orange stared at the castle and felt….

Like he should be very far away from it.

Even just a glance had nausea rising up in his throat. He clutched his side and emptied his stomach onto the ground. He couldn’t afford to be sick right now. He was in a hurry! He had to find…

A girl…?

Who was she again?

 

**[FILE ERASED]**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have: for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee." Hebrews 13:5 (KJV) Ecclesiastes 7:8 might work as well.
> 
> Not the most upbeat of chapters, but the end is not the end. Either the next chapter or the one after that will take a bit longer since I'll be in and out of town again. It shouldn't take as long as last time. As always, thank you for your patie- oh. 
> 
> I'll be honest, this chapter hurt to write, but I promise things will turn out okay, even if it seems like there can't be a happy ending out of all of this.
> 
> Do something nice for yourself today. Take a walk, read a book, listen to music, decide if you call them fireflies or lightning bugs...
> 
> Moment Ruiner: "Take chara yourself, okay Chara?"
> 
> "Kara?"
> 
> "Ch-are-uh?"
> 
> "Welp."
> 
> "Won't be using that joke anyway."
> 
> Up next: Wait, he didn't really forget, did he?


	11. Not the Absence of Fear

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Orange struggles to remember his missing friend.

_Take a deep breath…_

_In…_

_Out…_

_Don’t worry about the castle right now…_

_Okay._

_I was looking for someone seriously important._

_My brother?_

_No… I’m pretty sure it was a girl._

_Just focus on re-tracing your steps. I came down from the ledge…but how did I get up there in the first place?_

Orange’s thoughts circled around and around in a crackle of white noise. Chara drifted in the midst of it all, as if lost at sea.

They willed themselves to shift to the more familiar point of view… But it wasn’t there. All that was left was the nauseated amnesiac.

“I know that’s the way out,” Orange paced back and forth on the overlook, hands on his hips “If I’m supposed to be leaving WITH someone, I don’t want to just leave them behind…” He scratched his head as he pondered.

“WELP!” He clapped his hands together. “I guess it’s up to the ol’ instincts, then!” He pressed his hands to his temples in deep concentration.

_’Just… go back to Toriel’s.’_

“...Toriel’s? Yeah, that's probably something she would- Hey! I can remember that at least!” He jabbed a decisive finger towards the cave top . “Toriel’s it is! Maybe she’ll know who I’m forgetting. She’s the only monster I can really ask anyway.” Nodding only to himself, he jogged farther and farther from the castle.

So Orange was still able to sense Chara to some extent. Meaning those ‘resets’ Cyan got stuck in weren’t as thorough as they had first seemed. But why did he forget her? Chara withheld the memories of the resets, but he should remember from everything before that light was triggered, right?

_’Ha ha…'_

_'You should be grateful you don’t remember.’_

How would he look at Chara if he knew what they had done? Cyan knew she wouldn’t be able to hang on much longer, but died one last time under Chara’s pressure. She’d been trying to cheer them up from the beginning, but they had dealed out yet another ultimatum. Selfless as she was, Chara didn’t give her much of a choice, did they?

Just like Asriel.

Maybe… It would be best for Chara not to interfere anymore.

_______

 

Orange ran through waterfall and Snowdin without having to stop even once. He didn’t see any guards, which was odd. Hadn’t they been chasing him? Well, he wasn’t complaining. He took a wrong turn and ran into hooded person on a boat. They seemed familiar, but instead of attacking, they called out in a friendly greeting. He returned the gesture with an awkward wave before getting back on track.

Crossing the bridge-like structure slowed him down for a moment, but he made it to the rows of pine trees before the artificial light peaked at mid-day. If he were just a _little_ taller he’d have been able to see over the treetops to see where he needed to go. If only he could climb onto someone’s shoulders- Wait… Dang it, he almost had something there. If a monster was responsible for erasing his memory with some kind of magic, he vowed to personally find them and punch them in the face.

While wandering through the maze of trees, Orange passed a couple of monsters squabbling about the quality of the magic used to make plants grow underground. They were so engrossed in their debate that Orange didn’t bother hiding. Come to think of it, how many monsters had he just passed by? He would think at least _some_ of them would know a human when they saw one. 

Finally, he saw the door. He stumbled through the snow and began pounding against it furiously. It was still locked. It was _always_ locked! He gave the door one final kick before slumping over it defeat. The icy wind made him shiver, and he hugged his bare arms around himself  _Come on, Toriel. You're the only lead I've got_. He rested his forehead on the cold surface and closed his eyes.

There was a scuffling sound on the other side. Something like… the beating of claws against stone. Before he could react, the door was thrust open, and Orange was smacked flying backward into a heap of snow.

“Children? My child, are you there?”

“Uuugh.” Orange rubbed at the bruise forming on his head, and looked up to see Toriel with her hands covering her mouth in shock.

“You came back!” She was on the verge of tears, and scooped Orange into one of her breath-choking hugs. “You came back! Are you hurt? Come inside, I will heal you. I was so worried!”

Before he could protest, Orange found himself swaddled in a quilt by the fireplace with a steaming mug of hot cocoa. Toriel fussed over every little thing- the goose bumps on his arms, the tears in his clothes, the slime in his hair. He had to dramatize that he was withering away from starvation before he was given any time to breathe. She bustled about the re-constructed kitchen, clinking the dishware as she happily prepped an enormous meal.

Orange buried his head in the blanket and let out a sigh. Maybe it was from being smothered by Toriel, but being back in the old house after witnessing the immense depth of the Underground left him with a twinge of claustrophobia. That on top of someone taking a whole-puncher to his memory made it feel like the whole adventure hadn’t even happened. All that progress was just… gone. He stared hard into the hypnotic flames in the fire place, and the sweet scent of butterscotch settled over him.

_Still no cinnamon, huh?_

The dining table seated three, but was set for two. He needed to look for clues while he still had the chance. He pushed himself to his feet and headed down the hall. He had used the first bedroom, so where would _she_ have slept? The locked door at the end of the hall would be the first place he’d think to look, but it was locked. Orange decided to look elsewhere before breaking down any of Toriel’s doors.

He entered Toriel’s room and immediately began flipping through her diary. It was filled to the brim with puns (an excessive amount of them being chair-related). Although they gave Orange a gnawing sense of deja vu, none of the entries said anything about humans falling into the underground. He skipped the bookcase and began rifling through Toriel’s dresser. It was mostly clothes, but he wasn’t sure what he was even looking for. Did Toriel even _wear_ socks? But the bottom drawer caught his attention.

Why would Toriel go through the trouble to repair these old clothes if they were too small for her to wear? There were dresses, robes, sweaters… Most of them had the extra sleeves sewn shut, making them appropriate for someone with two arms. He pulled a silky yellow ribbon from the back of the drawer. The girl he was looking for would wear this right? But didn’t she prefer blue? Or was it red?

He didn’t know if the memory had been stolen or if it was ever there in the first place. He scratched furiously at his head, crying out in utter frustration. The thrashing around made his bandana come undone to spill its contents out on the floor.

“My child? Where did you go?”

_Fantastic._

Orange scrambled to re-tie his bandana. He had to clean up this mess before Toriel saw. He tucked the rope and wrappers back into their place.

But what was this box? He didn’t remember it.

He turned it over in his hands before opening it up. Inside were various sizes of band-aids, all tinted a soft blue color. Mesmerized, he turned over his arm and traced the scar he had gotten from his fall into the Underground. Something clicked, and he peeled away the tear in his pant leg. The same bandage was placed just under his knee.

_I want to remember you._

_I want to remember everything about you._

_The way you stayed cool-headed even when we were in danger-_

_The quiet way you laughed after telling me an awful joke-_

_How brave you were for enduring so much-_

_How could I FORGET?_

Toriel entered to find Orange shivering by the pile of rumpled clothes. “There you are! Please do not scare me like that again. I was… Are you alri—“

“Toriel.” Orange latched onto the apprehensive woman’s sleeve and looked up at her. The corners of his eyes were damp, but he continued to stare intently. “Please… I need a name. That’s the only thing that's missing. I need to remember her name!”

His grip tightened, and Toriel searched his face in concern. “Who do you mean?”

“ _Her_!” He jabbed a finger at the clothes. “You called out for both of us earlier- you have to remember! I have to find her… I- I can’t…“

Toriel knelt to his height and rubbed a hand up and down his back. “There, there… you have been through enough for one day. I promise we can look for ‘her’ after a night of rest.” Her gentle hand took his, and she led him out of the bedroom. Her sad eyes fell on the clothes as she stepped out the door. “I, too, have had a feeling that someone is still missing…”

_______

 

Despite it still being early in the night, Orange was sent to the children’s bedroom directly after dinner. Not that he was able to sleep, of course. Toriel wouldn’t be singing lullabies tonight as she had for ‘her’. He had listened through the wall, and could always fall asleep before the first song ended. Toriel didn’t even know that Orange _had_ bad dreams. Not wanting to be caught crying and asking for lullabies in the same night, Orange was left defenseless against the onslaught of nightmares.

It wasn’t just the ghastly faces this time. As if the dreams had been digging through his suppressed fears, grotesque images of the brutes who forced him underground loomed over him like towers.

**If you’re so tough, why don’t you go prove it? Go save your brother and defeat all the big bad monsters. That is, unless you’re scaaaaared~.**

“Shut up.”

**You kiddin’? He’s wearing pink gloves! Kid’ll drop dead if he sees a butterfly!**

“Shut. Up.”

**And his little friend isn’t even here to wake him up. Whasamatter, pipsqueak? Couldn’t save her either?**

“SHUT UP!!!!”

He swung his fists at the phantoms in a blind rage, missing with each attack. Their crackling laughter spread around him like a virus. Orange clasped his hands over his ears to block out the noise.

“My point still stands.” Orange swiveled around to see a kid in a striped sweater crouched next to him. “There’s no sense in leaving the Underground if this is all there is.”

“Like it’s better down here!” Orange retaliated. “Monsters are chasing me down to steal my soul, I can’t get a sleep right anymore, and everything keeps making less and less sense! But hey! At least no one’s tryna’ throw me down a pit! It’s all the same to me.”

“It’s not like it matters anyway. Once the war starts, there won’t be any place left to go back to up there. If I were you, I’d just give up and stay here forever.”

“I’ll give up when I’m DEAD!”

The empty space began to shake. The kid covered their ears, and Orange struggled to keep his footing. A figure even more monstrous than the brutes appeared before him, brandishing a crimson-stained trident. A phantom pain stabbed Orange’s side at the sound of the creature’s booming voice.

**“Chara, please wake up! You are the future of humans and monsters.”**

And just like that the dream was over.

Orange’s top half was dangling over the side of the bed from tossing and turning. He sat upright on the floor in silence. The flower drawing on the far wall met his gaze. It wasn’t the name he was looking for, but it was more than nothing.

“Chara, huh? Anything you feel like telling me?”

(…)

“And now I’m talking to myself,” Orange snorted without humor. He stuffed his hands in his pockets and shuffled his way out of Toriel’s house. If he couldn’t sleep, he may as well take a walk to clear his thoughts. He hoped his forgotten friend was sleeping better than he was. Wherever she was.

The ruins were fairly peaceful in the lowlight of the night. He only encountered a Whimsun, which he spared without thought. He ended up walking as far as he could go- all the way to the room where he first fell down. The moonlight was barely able to peek through the overcast, but Orange could just make out the single golden flower. It had several tiny sprouts growing around it. He reclined next to them and watched the clouds roll by until he grew restless.

He kicked up a pile of leaves on his trek back to Toriel’s. He'd forgotten he’d have to do all the puzzles in order to get back. Rolling his eyes he squinted in the dim light to read the riddle etched into the wall of the first puzzle room.

‘Only the fearless may proceed- brave ones, foolish ones, both walk not the middle road.’

He frowned at the puzzle and felt something cold in his stomach.

…No, that wasn’t from the puzzle. Something was… melting in his bandana? He pulled out the bisicle wrapper with two fingers and held it up. It must’ve stayed frozen throughout his trip in Snowdin, but the temperate conditions of the Ruins had caused it to melt. It left his bandana all sticky. The wrapper was now just a bag of sugary syrup, and it had some kind of shriveled paper stuck to it that he hadn’t noticed before.

‘please… please come back.’

There was a hole punched through the bottom of it. A failed attempt at advertising, no doubt. That’s what happens when you sell ice cream in an icy wasteland. Hopefully they learned their lesson. Orange sneered at the card and crammed it back into his bandana. He was so sick of it all. It was like playing a card game where he was the only one who didn’t know the rules.

Well not anymore.

He rammed against the door until its old locks gave way and swung open.

Maybe he could stay here a live some predictable, mundane life where nothing ever happens and every action is risk-free. Maybe if he stayed long enough, another human would fall and stay too. It would be the smartest choice in terms of survival.

But the bitter idea of living in such a bland existence was what spurred Orange to leave in the first place. It wasn’t what he was about.

He managed to force his way past the other puzzles as well. Toriel was still asleep by the time he got back, so he laced up his sneakers and descended to the basement.

_Sorry, Toriel. But I just can’t leave things as they are now._

_______

 

Without a fresh layer of fallen snow, Orange was able to follow his footprints all the way back to Snowdin. He didn’t bother to stay out of sight or put on a disguise. The few monsters that’d recognized the fact that he was human had all been older, and the woods were mostly filled with teenagers out past curfew.

He neared the edge of town before getting an idea, and backtracked to the riverside where he saw the monster with the boat. They agreed to let him hitch a ride to Waterfall, which would save a good chunk of time.

“Oh! Can you hold on a sec? I need to get something real quick.”

“Of course. But a quick word of advice--”

But Orange was already rushing back to the box in front of the town Inn. Why hadn’t he thought of this sooner? He re-equipped a glove and began fishing for the other one. It was a chore to find because some genius decided to dump their bed sheets in the box. Oh wait. That was him. He saw the leather poking out from beneath the sheets when his chest tightened and gave a sudden lurch.

He withdrew his hand from the box and looked around.

Nothing had changed… but he could feel the hairs on his neck stand straight up.

Now on edge, he decided to leave with just the one glove. That was all he really needed anyway. He hunched his shoulders and rounded a partially constructed restaurant. There was an odd silhouette waiting for him in the shadows of the trees.

A deer-like creature was tangled up in a mess of debris ranging from tinsel to dog treats. The beast’s sideways mouth was bared in its rampage as it rammed its antlers into the side of the brick. Orange couldn’t help but shout in alarm at the sight of the creature, and fell on his backside.

To Orange’s relief, it wasn’t aiming to attack him, but trying to shake the mess from its horns. It barreled right on by, heading for the woods. Orange stood and exhaled loudly. _Really? THAT’S what you were worked up about?_ He gave himself a wake-up slap with his gloved hand. _You’re on your own- big deal! Suck it up and keep moving._ He dusted the snow off his tattered sweats and began walking back to retrive the other glove.

“My my, that certainly was interesting, wasn’t it?”

( _Run. Run away right now!_ )

A slender monster in a dark overcoat stood tall with his arms folded behind his back. The lights in his hollow eyes peered down at the child powdered in snow.

“Hello, human.”

Orange rarely ever let himself feel intimidated by anything, but something about this man’s gaze held him cemented on the spot. He should’ve been more careful at staying unseen. He had a feeling that a venomous snake had wrapped around his ankles and slithered its way to his neck.

“Uh-hm…?”

“Ah, do forgive me,” the monster articulated in a formal manner. “For a moment, I thought you were someone else. Of course, that human has been gone… How long has it been? Around sixty years now?”

( _Who’s he talking about? He’s not talking about me- he looks the same age as last time. I couldn’t have been gone for more than a year or two…_ )

“All the same, it has been quite some time since I’ve seen a living human.” He withdrew a handheld machine from his pocket and took a step closer. “I do hope you don’t mind my taking a look at that soul of yours.” He pressed a button, and the device blinked to life.

Orange’s soul emerged in response.

“H-hold on a second.”

What was it about this man that made Orange freeze up? He wasn’t all that scary or large, yet Orange’s heart pounded like it was about to burst.

“No exp…” the man ignored without looking up from the screen. “As I thought, I was being overcautious. You do not have the trait- it isn’t even your _subtrait_. You’re hardly a threat with determination traces as weak as that. The law calls for the eradication of any and all fallen humans, but I needn’t waste my time with such a pitiful thing like you.” He chuckled like it was the most amusing thing he’d heard all day.

 _Enough of this bullcrap_.

Orange regained his nerve and jabbed a shaky finger at the man’s face. “The hell do _you_ know about what I can and can’t do?” He locked his eyes to the man’s and didn’t look away. “I’m going to pay that lousy king of yours a visit, and put a stop to whatever war plans he has once and for all!”

The man had a slight hint of surprise behind his stoic frown, but it passed before he resumed speaking. “We've already acquired the soul needed to cross the barrier, but if you’re in such a hurry to die I’m sure the king will be more than happy to make an appointment. After all, you’ll only have to die **once**.”

Already… got a soul? Something crumbled deep within Orange.

“Do you mean to say… You have a soul… that died more than once?”

The man turned his head and covered his face with a skeletal hand, but Orange could see the crooked smile through the gaps in the bones. “Yes, it seems my little trap wasn’t as unnecessary as I first thought. You see, some souls, such as the one recently procured, are significantly more difficult to extinguish. Determination anchors the host to this mortal world, so it is reasonable that the only way to get the soul to remain dormant is to stifle the power of the will. Your soul is nothing so remarkable, but the other one... Well, upon first glance it wouldn’t appear to be, either. I assume it would need the subtrait in order to trigger the focal point. It’d be quite the phenomenon otherwise.”

( _You… You’re the reason we got stuck! IT’S YOUR FAULT CYAN DIED OVER AND OVER!_ )

“Whose soul?”

“Pardon?” The man looked down at the trembling child.

The shaking was not out of fear, but of rage. Orange slammed his clenched fist into a nearby tree, cutting deep into the bark.

“WHOSE SOUL DID YOU TAKE?!”

“Hold your temper.” The man scrutinized Orange’s flaring soul with narrowed eyes. “If it was some friend of yours, the king’s likely to have absorbed it by now. It is not a completed death, so there is no cause for such foolish behavior. Shame, if the king had gotten your soul you could’ve escaped the Underground without having to wait for the barrier to break.”

So her soul was intact… but her body was destroyed. Orange would never see her smile again. She would spend eternity alone with the king who killed her. She’d be forced to reap human souls on the surface and instigate the war. Fury boiled in Orange’s gut like a dragon woken from slumber.

“SCREW THAT!” He jerked his soul away from the man and the machine. “I WON’T LET IT HAPPEN!”

The man was unimpressed. “Shouting nonsense at the top of you lungs doesn’t make it any less like nonsense.”

“Then how ‘bout I use actions instead of words?”

Giving the man no time to react, Orange sped off as fast as his legs could carry him.. He kept up the pace, leaping into the riverperson’s vessel. Thankfully, they weren't opposed to Orange lying flat against the boat’s floor for a large duration of the ride.

Orange leaned over the back of the boat to watch the waves of water ribbon behind them until they reached their destination. Something about the docking alcove felt gut-wrenchingly familiar.

“What’s your name, anyway?" He asked the riverperson. "In case I need to find you again?” He tried to peer inside their hood. 

“My name?" They pulled their hood over their presumed face. "It doesn’t really matter…”

With that, Orange began his race to the castle. He wasn’t all to eager about getting there, but he didn’t have time to waste. He had a king to defeat.

He ran through a hallway with water streaming down from above, and skidded to a stop when he heard the splash of feet behind him- like they were doing everything they could to keep up. He spun around, expecting to see someone following him, but it was just the echo flowers parroting his own footsteps. His shoulders slumped and he continued onward.

‘Splash sploosh~ Splash sploosh~’

‘Sploosh SpLoOssssh Sploosh SpLoOssssh’

‘ **J** shhoo **st**   **d** spl **n’t** **ki** yooo **ll** sh **th** oo **m,** **o** spl **aay?** ’

_______

 

Chara watched in silence as Orange ran the same path as he had before. The way he chose all the correct air vents to get to the Core was proof that he retained some memory of the resets. Still, Chara wondered if he would remember everything when he got to the castle. What would happen to them if he ended up dying? They didn’t have a ‘player two’ or any ‘extra lives’ to hide behind this time. Cyan had entrusted them to watch over Orange, but if they couldn’t talk _her_ out of fighting Asgore how could they possibly expect to stop someone so hotheaded?

What if he remembered being possessed?

Chara had used Orange’s body to trade Cyan’s life for his and Asgore’s. If it came down to it, would they help Orange fight? Or let their father live and be responsible for the death of yet another child?

Orange reached the Core, but the elevators were down yet again. He wouldn’t be able to take any shortcuts this time, so he charged ahead, moving forward until he reached a room with a switch.

He was instinctually directed to press it, of course, but a trio of monsters blocked the way.

“You’ve seen enough.”        “Woof.”        “No regrets.”

A fountain of moths, flies, and rings shot out from the nightmarish triad. Dodging the projectiles in such a tight space was punishing, and Orange already needed to make use of one of his two remaining honey buns. He hoped he’d be able to save them for Asgore’s fight.

“What are you so afraid of?” the eyeball monster taunted while blocking the path.

“After all I’ve been through, you’re the _last_ thing I’d be afraid of," Orange retorted. "Now, get out of my way.”

The other two monsters exchanged glances. Astigmatism puffed up, bloodshot and angry.

“You dare defy me?”        *Impressed croak*        “Courage…”

The frog and moth monsters ceased their fighting, leaving the Astigmatism to battle until it watered. Orange spared the group and made a dash for the switch.

Maybe it was because Asgore had broken his promise to protect them… Or that they were just protecting themselves… But Chara had made their decision.

They would side with the one who wasn’t this timeline’s murderer.

_______

 

Funny how the elevators in the Core had minds of their own.

This particular elevator, however, was backed up emergency power- it would run just fine, but the speed of ascension was cut drastically. Being stuck waiting in the compact space was almost painful. Orange clenched and unclenched his fists continuously. His fixed stare could’ve burned a hole through the metal doors.  
It would be easier if he could just charge in without thinking.

If he won, he’d take back his friend’s soul and cross the barrier.

But wouldn’t the monsters just choose another king to declare war on humanity? Whatever, it’s not like they’d be getting out any time soon without human souls. Orange would make sure to seal up the hole he fell down before he set out to find his brother.

If he failed…

If he failed, at least 'she' wouldn’t be alone!

The elevator came to a stop, and Orange readied himself. He wouldn’t fail! He was determined more than ever to stay brave. As soon as the doors opened, he was off. He sprinted down the grayed out hall.

Something bright shot up from the ground, sounding off a haunting chime that seeped into the walls.

Orange didn’t slow down to investigate. He kept on running along the monochrome walkways.

Not long after the first, a second chime sounded when Orange sprinted through the familiar house. But he didn’t slow to try and make sense of it all.

He kept on running even as the sun carved its rays into the golden hall to reach his face. They made him feel lightheaded. It was a scorching day out the corridor window. Birds were singing, valiant footsteps stormed down the hall. Swallowing his fear, he charged on, the fateful save point flaring up at his feet.

Another chime before the throne room- nobody was there. He didn’t slow down to think about what he would do if the king had already left.

Another chime upon leaving the throne room- nobody was waiting for him in the darkened hall. Even with the circle of sunlight piercing through the ceiling above, he could barely see where he needed to go next.

_It’s not too late. It’s NOT too late!_

“I’M NOT AFRAID OF YOU, ASGORE! IF YOU WANT SOULS SO BADLY- WHY DON’T YOU SHOW YOURSELF!”

The only reply was that of the wind whistling through the hollow room. He yelled out at the top of his lungs just to get an echo. He wanted to—No. He _needed_ to hit something.

There was nothing to hit in the empty room, so he tore the band-aid box from his bandana and threw it to the floor in his fury. It clattered against the stone, putting a dent one of the corners.

“Why?” Orange choked between breaths. He blinked back his tears and gazed at the container with vacant eyes. “Why did you leave me?"

"Didja think I wouldn’t miss you?”

He rubbed his eyes with his hand to see the punch card had gotten stuck to it. He ripped it in half and tossed it aside. His whole body was burning from his journey. What now? Did he have to run all the way back to Toriel’s again?

He turned to head back the way he came, but the wind carried a faint sound into the chamber. It sounded like metal against stone, and it came from the darkest stretch of the hall. Getting closer revealed a doorway that he hadn’t seen before.

On the other side lay a sight that left Orange with his mouth open.

Not only did the room twist this way and that, but several glass canisters were strewn about it. They were all empty.

All except the one containing the suspended aqua heart.

It all came flooding back in a maelstrom of memories. His memories. Her memories. Memories he couldn’t distinguish.

He saw her fighting, sparing, and everything in-between. He felt her weary confusion.

Did he kill her?

No... That memory didn’t belong to him. But she had saved his life.

Maybe he could save part of hers.

Cyan’s canister was held in the great paws of a monster draped in royal purple.

He held it close, looking, but not seeing. Orange watched to see if he would do anything, but the wretched creature knelt there, struggling with his decision.

“So you are here.” The king didn’t stir, but had sensed Orange all the same. “Please… Turn back. It is easier to simply forget what has happened here.”

“So you forgot -*__ too.”

The sorry king flinched at the name. “It is for the best. Go now, you need not suffer.”

“So that’s it then?” Orange’s foot ground into the shifting floor. “You’re just going act like she never existed? And now you have the _nerve_ to spare me? What? Are you just going to declare war on humanity, then sit on the sidelines while your people fight to the death?”

The king shrunk under the child’s piercing glare. “Like hell. You’re not forgetting a _single detail_. Didn’t she make it clear enough? Killing others so senselessly is an act of COWARDICE!”

Setting the aqua canister on the ground, the king rose to his feet, but wouldn’t look Orange in the eye. “Foolish human… Do you not fear death? Leave!” The red trident was summoned to his hands. “I will not offer you mercy again.”

Orange took his stance and raised his fists. “What is it with you people? Scared this, afraid that. So what if I am! That’s not what’s important right now!”

He vaulted forward, connecting his fist to Asgore’s trident as the king blocked the attack.

“I’LL MAKE SURE YOU _NEVER_ FORGET -*_ **N**! EVEN IF I HAVE TO PUMMEL IT INTO YOU!”

Asgore grunted and swiped his weapon with great force. He sent Orange to the ground with fireballs in pursuit.

Orange braced the impact with his hands, supported the rest of his body with his top half, and swung his legs around him like the blades of a windmill. His old breakdancing move was enough to get him through the assail of fire completely unsigned. “If you think I’m just gonna stand there you’ve got another thought coming!”

The king wasn’t looking directly at his opponent, and fired off rings of flames in erratic patterns.

Orange darted around the rings, leaping through them when they closed in. He’d put a considerable distance between him and the king. He brushed against the wall of the barrier and was immediately repelled- like two magnets of the same polarity. He was forced backward, and landed flat with his back to the floor. He kicked up his legs and sprung to a standing position. The king was upon him with the flaming trident, and Orange snagged the velvet of the royal cape, tucking himself beneath it.

The king spun around to look behind him, but with each turn Orange swiveled himself out of sight. Asgore let down his guard, and Orange landed five hits to a weak point in his armor.

He reeled back his glove to dish out another attack, but he was blinded by a brilliant flash of light blue.

The trident caught him in the side, ripping through his bandana.

Adrenalin coursing through Orange like molten lava, he pushed himself off the weapon and fell to the floor. His bandana fell toward the fire, spilling it’s contents, but he caught it before it reached the licking flames. He bit into the honey bun and got back to his feet, tying the tattered bandana around his forehead.

He remembered what moves would come next.

The dome of fire whirled around the two combatants, both worn to their last legs. The sweltering heat of mid-day collided with the roaring fire made the heat all the more intense.

This was it.

The ground erupted in flowers of fire. They started out as buds, the fired off like flamethrowers at full bloom. Orange weaved his way through the furnace, his orange soul only just visible through the firework finale.

Asgore was in sight, unguarded while maintaining such a degree of magic.

Orange hurtled over the hazards flung his way and snatched at the delta collar that adorned the king’s cloak. He wound up his glove and drove it forward. Asgore was forced to face Orange. His golden hair blew away from his eyes, the strands riddled with water.

Asgore was crying.

And Orange’s fist stopped just inches from the king’s face.

Orange gritted his teeth, gripping the armor tighter in his blistered hand.

Then, he let it go slack.

“Heh… That looks like the expression… of someone who remembered something they regret.”

The fire magic getting closer, set to hone-in on its target.

“I guess I didn’t defeat any monsters or avenge anyone… But I think she’d have wanted it that way, huh?”

Orange looked past Asgore to the canister on the ground and gave a big, tearful smile. “Right? So it looks like… you win.”

The sunset soul was engulfed in the flames.

_______

 

_‘Here he comes.’_

_Is he going to absorb us?_

_‘He's just… staring again.’_

_‘Now he's pacing....’_

_‘He left.’_

_That's it? He’s not taking us to the surface?  
[Cyan], do you know what that means? We did it! _

_And did you see me fight? I... I'm sorry I forgot for a while there._

_‘I'm sorry too, for getting us killed...’_

_Nah, I'm pretty sure that would've happened either way. But hey! If nothing else, we stopped a bunch of other people from suffering the same fate._

_‘I’m so relieved… I wonder what Asgore will tell the monsters though.’_

_…_

_Do you hate Chara?_

_‘What? Hate them…? No… They didn’t intend for all this to happen. And dying over and over… really gets to your head.'_

_'...Do you hate them?’_

_…_

_‘You can forgive someone without saying what they did was okay. I don’t think I could’ve done any better if I were them.’_

_If they’re not here, I wonder if they got away somehow._

_‘Maybe. And maybe someday they’ll find someone who’ll be able to help them heal.’_

The sun was beginning to set, and a soft light settled over the two souls like a blanket. It wasn’t stormy, nor was there a drought. Instead, puffy white cumulous clouds drifted peacefully along the horizon. It was a breathtaking sight.

_‘Hey [Orange]?'_

_Yeah?_

_‘I think we looked pretty hot in our fights.’_

_Wow._

_‘Or should I say sharp?’_

_WOW._

_‘Hahaha! Too soon?’_

_[Cyan]?_

_‘Yes?’_

_I don't hate you... But am I going to have to spend the rest of eternity with your jokes?_

_‘Well, I'm not sure.’_

_‘For now, all we can do is wait and see.’_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the Lord thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee." Deuteronomy 31:6 (KJV)
> 
> Couldn't leave it off without a little closure. I'll miss these two, but it's time for a new beginning. Now to focus on getting ready for school. Have a great day!
> 
> Up next: Daba dee daba dye


	12. Royal Blues

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chara finds them back at the beginning with an unfamiliar face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I LIIIIIVE! *Breaks free from mountain of textbooks desperately gasping for air*. I have to apologize for the delay on this chapter, but expect some slow down since school's back in session. I'll try not to go longer than three weeks without posting, but life is beautiful and unpredictable. Without further ado, please enjoy!

**[File er-sed]**

-__* _**_ _

_-*_ \\**_ **|-** ____

/- **-** _*--_ ***__** -

 

_______

 

 

She woke up and with bright starry eyes.

Chara woke up wishing they hadn't.

_This again…_

Chara watched through the newcomer's curious eyes as she craned back to stare at the opening above. The light above indicated that it was morning, and the scent it carried was the fresh breath of spring. She leaned back so far that she ended up falling backward into a somersault. She let out a small 'oof', and gazed in wonder at the small circle of dew-laced flowers. The seeds that Cyan had sown were now in full bloom, sparkling and swaying in the pleasantly cool breeze.

She didn't seem to be hurt at least, having landed in the center of the small flower patch. Were those delicate things really able to break a fall that had originally killed Chara? Come to think of it, Cyan had only landed on one, yet got off with just a broken leg. Even so, the enticing beauty of the flowers was beginning to lose its appeal to Chara. All they reminded them of now was all of the places they had been killed.

_’How many times is this going to happen?’_ Chara whispered out to the girl in a hushed voice. _’Can't you see I'm tired of living with myself?’_

Their voice didn't carry, of course, and the girl wandered off, deeper into the Ruins.

 

_______

 

The first thing Chara came to realize about the newcomer was how incredibly young she was. She was smaller than Chara had been when they had first fallen down, and _much_ smaller than either Cyan or Orange. Despite still having some baby fat, the pressure plates in the first puzzle room struggled to register her weight when she stood on top of them. She jumped up and down repeatedly to trigger the puzzle. She ended up jumping on all of them without reading the signs- like it was a game of hopscotch. Luckily, there was no penalty for triggering the extra plates. (The defense system parts of the puzzles had been deactivated by Toriel long ago, back when Asriel and Chara played in the caverns.)

Then there was the second elephant in the room: the tutu. The ruffly pink silk flared out at her waist like the bloom of a rose. Every so often, the girl would look down at it and start twirling giddily for reasons unbeknownst to Chara. It was the kind of thing one might do if no one else was watching. Then again, she wasn’t aware that she was being watched.

From what Chara could tell from her unconsciousness she didn't even care that she was lost in an underground cavern. They probed through her thoughts to investigate, but came up empty. The way she was acting was in perfect accord with her carefree thinking. She had thoughts like ‘What’s that curious creature over there?’ and ‘I wonder who would build an obstacle course way under the mountain’.

Her dynamic movements flowed together like a scarf in the wind- dancing with more freedom than she actually had. Sure, Asgore wasn’t going to reap her soul to incite war, but she was still trapped underground with the rest of the monsters.

_’So that’s it, then? The war isn’t going to happen, but after everything that's happened THIS kid will get to stay?’_ Chara watched immobile as the child glided through the leaf piles in a jubilated performance. They had found themselves back at square one yet again. Only this time, they were burdened with a new set of bad memories, kicking them up with each step. _’Was everything I’ve been through for nothing? People died because of me, but their sacrifice was only good for fixing what I’d already screwed up!’_ They were reminded of the gnarled tree in front of Toriel’s. It would produce leaves, but none would ever be able to stay. The drifted off serenely in the intermittent breeze- constant reminders of what Chara had done.

The foliage crunched under small ballet slippers, crumbling into pieces and falling away.

_’Heh… I’m sorry you had to get stuck with me.’_ Chara spoke upon deaf ears. _’But I don’t think either of us have any say in the matter.’_

What was done was done.

Breaking down now would do nothing. Thing wouldn’t go back to the way they were. Chara wasn’t able to do anything right, but they were quite good at existing- even when they thought they oughtn’t. So Chara would continue to exist alongside this girl.

‘ _I won’t let you suffer like the last three._ ’

 

_______

 

She killed a monster.

She crouched down to run her hand through the dissolving Loox that had accidentally been kicked during her beautifully dangerous dance. Her kicks were powerful enough to rival Orange’s punches. The monster’s dust trickled through her fingers like sand. She turned her hands over with confusion before gently wiping them off on her skirt, not noticing the deep blue soul sinking back to its place in her chest. She gave the ash pile a brief look over shoulder before passing into the next room, resuming her pleasant twirling.

It wasn’t self-defense, and it wasn’t on purpose. There was nothing Chara could’ve done to prevent it, and they looked on with less care than they thought they should have. _‘…Blue, huh? Guess it was a good thing I was so picky with Cyan’s name. Otherwise I’d have to call you Indigo or something. It was probably the artist in me that was doing the talking.’_

"Oh!" Blue froze mid twirl, and glanced around her. "Is someone there?" She bellowed into the empty hall.

_She heard me?_

_Why does it always take so long?_

_'Greetings.'_ Chara responded with uncertainty. The girl didn't understand the gravity of what she had done to that monster, but Chara didn't feel much like enlightening her. _'Nice dance.'_

The girl's arms flew up to hold her reddened cheeks in over-the-top embarrassment. "You were watching me?? Oh goodness, that was just practice! I wasn't ready!!" She puffed out her cheeks in concentration. "Give me a second, let me do it right!" Her limbs stiffened and she adjusted her form.

Chara couldn't see the dance too well while watching from Blue’s eyes, but they could feel a radical difference in the way she moved. But they were more distracted by the girl's sudden ability to hear them.

It happened right after she had killed a monster. It was the same with Cyan after the Froggit attack. Not only that, but Orange had gained the ability to hear them after helping defeat Asgore, and lost that ability after the reset brought the king back to life.

Chara felt cold, and interrupted Blue's dance to move her dust-stained hand to her face. There was no denying the pattern, but it was a twisted and cruel one. It gave birth to horrifying thoughts within Chara's head.

_If killing ONE monster allows me to move and be heard... What would happen if I..._

"U-Um! I'm sorry, I don't know what happened!"

Chara blinked and realized that they had unknowingly forced Blue to stop dancing. They clenched her fist and let it drop. _'Sorry, that was my fault. Keep going.'_

"You did that?" The girl shook out her limbs to check if they would get stuck again. "Wow!! I've never had an imaginary friend that did that before!!"

_'I'm not...'_ Chara sighed and ran Blue's hand over her head, stopping when they discovered that her dark curls had been tucked away into a bun like the tail of a rabbit. _'Yeah, imaginary. Listen, I know a place where you can stay if you can get through these puzzles.'_

Blue's eyes lit up and she started bouncing in place. "I'm great at puzzles!! We'll get there in record time, you'll see!" She paraded onward to the next chamber with extra pep in her step. Chara had become a passenger once more, and kept their thoughts to themselves.

_I can't make her kill monsters just to see if anything happens or not. I know by now that if I try and make everything the way I want, I'll end up hurting her. But at the same time, if I just let her do whatever she wants she'll STILL end up getting hurt..._

_Okay. If she kills, she kills. If people have a problem with that, I'll keep her out of trouble. Let her stay blissfully unaware- I wouldn't wish my burdens on her shoulders. Even so, I can’t let myself get attached._

Blue came to the room with the loose flooring that stretched across the width of the hall. Chara knew from experience that it would take a running start and a longer pair of legs to cross the gap without falling. And although Blue's legs were the longest part of her body, they were still far from the length of Cyan's. Regardless, the girl bent her knees in preparation to jump.

_'Uh. Listen, it might be better to just fall down and climb back up. You might get hurt if you throw yourself at it at full force.'_

"No worries, I can do it!" She swung her arms forward and back with a bright smile. "I'm good at puzzles- you just watch!!"

_'No, seriously--'_

Blue didn't give Chara a chance to finish, and leapt forward like a spring released from compression. If Chara were able to hold on for dear life they would have.

Blue's left foot stuck the landing on the other side of the gap, but her right foot landed on a crumbling tile. She wobbled as the floor gave way and waved her arms to regain balance. She stumbled a few steps forward- then peeked behind her to see where she had been.

"We made it!~" she elated. "Um... Did you make me close my eyes?"

_'What, me?'_ Chara released control over Blue and receded into her thoughts, hiding their embarrassment. Seriously, after everything they'd been hurt by it was humiliating to flinch at something that couldn't even kill them. _'It was just a reflex. Keep going.'_

"Okay," she chimed and continued onward. It was apparent that she wasn't as good at reading Chara as Cyan had been, but maybe that was a good thing. Besides, she was getting through the puzzles fairly quickly.

_'Okay, so you got through that one on your own,'_ Chara admitted as they hopped over a row of spikes. _'But you'd have be able to defy gravity to jump over this next one.'_

They entered the room with the collapsible floor maze. _'You just walk until you get to the wall... You know what? It'll be easier to just do it myself.'_

Blue crossed her arms and scuffed the floor with her foot. "I won't mess up... I can do it. Honest." Chara became bombarded with the feeling of disappointment that leaked out of her.

_I can’t have her hating me if we’re going to spend a lifetime together. It probably wouldn't hurt to let her try. Besides, if she fails she'll be sure to take my advice the next time._

_'Alright Blue, show me what you've got.'_

Blue’s disappointment was immediately swapped with fluttering jubilee. She bounded over to the far wall with an extra pep in her step. She scanned the room excitedly as she wondered where to go from there. She hopped forward and landed on a collapsible tile- as Chara had expected she would.

But she hopped over to the next tile before the floor could give way. And then. to the next- and the next, until she was standing by the door to the next room.

There was no way. Blue looked back at the gaps in the floor she left behind, and giggled triumphantly. Knowing that she would just jump over the spikes on the few remaining puzzles, she would be the first kid to make it through all the puzzles on the first try. Chara was in shock.

Blue had more potential than Chara had thought.

 

_______

 

Chara was unsure how much time had passed since they had fought Asgore, but the ruins looked the same as they always had. They found that Toriel was still living there after all.

She was too preoccupied with repairing the loose bricks on her house to spot the child right away. Rather than be frightened or distrusting towards the woman, Blue gazed up at her with eyes sparkling. When Chara made it known that Toriel was their mother, there was nothing holding Blue back from leaping over and embracing the unsuspecting woman.

"Rabbit-sheep-goat mama!!" Blue cried and clung to the back of Toriel's robe, holding fast as the woman jerked upright.

"What on Earth--" Toriel twisted around in an attempt to face the one who tackled her, but Blue remained dangling from the fabric of her clothes. The woman reached behind her to grab the giggling creature. It was no easy feat, as Blue had the grip of a koala on a tree. Blue’s high-pitched giggling grew in volume.

Toriel started laughing along with her. "Now what little monster has decided to prank this old woman when she is working?" She managed to take hold, and held the small human at arms length in front of her. She had been smiling before she had seen Blue, but it quickly fell away.

She stared.

Blue didn't stop smiling at Toriel, but her giggling quieted. Chara stiffened. Had it been a mistake to bring Blue here? It was the only safe place they knew of, but what kind of reaction would Toriel have? What did it feel like holding a child in your arms after having lost four?

_Mom… Please don’t turn me away._

She blinked several times, trying to compose herself. “You…” Her voice was grim and barely audible. Then, her eyes softened. “You are rather young, are you not? Perhaps… you are in need of someone to watch over you?”

Blue wasn’t keeping very good eye contact, and became distracted by the floppy-ness of Toriel’s ears. She batted at them with her tiny hands, momentarily taking Toriel by surprise. The woman sighed, relaxing into a tender smile. “Yes… I believe you are.” Chara could tell that the usual spark was missing from her eyes, but she was still willing to share her usual gentleness with the fallen children. Chara breathed a sigh through Blue’s nose.

“It is settled then. I shall be the one to watch over you.” She set Blue on the ground and held the door to her home. “Follow me inside, Ch-“ She caught herself. “Erm, what is your name, little one?”

“My name is [Blue]!” Blue chirped.

Toriel nodded. “Welcome, [Blue]. Please come this way.”

And Blue did.

Chara felt numb as they left their new body on ‘autopilot’ to explore the house.

_Mom… You almost said MY name. Can you sense me? Or… are kids just that easy to replace?_

 

_______

 

That night, Toriel pulled every book from the shelves and piled them up by the armchair. She had decided to try and gauge Blue’s reading level for when she would begin her lessons. The task proved to be more difficult than first expected. In the first hour, Blue wouldn’t so much as glance at anything other than the collection of fairytale books. Yet by the second hour, she was only interested in astronomy and physics- both of which were topics that nearly made Chara lull Blue to sleep. She didn’t acknowledge any of the history books, at least. Chara wasn’t sure if they’d be able to listen to the outdated tales for the umpteenth time. By the time the Blue had exhausted the last of the puzzle books, the candles around the room had melted down to stumps, and Toriel announced that it was time for bed.

Toriel tucked Blue thoroughly beneath the covers and turned out the lamp before closing Asriel’s door behind her. The woman’s footsteps didn’t lead to her own bedroom, however. _’She’s probably staying up to make sure we don’t leave,’_ Chara speculated. It had already happened twice. They wouldn’t be surprised if Toriel secretly wanted to put Blue on a leash and tie her to a pole.

Would it still be dangerous on the other side of the door? Chara didn’t feel like finding out. In theory, Blue was young enough that she would just listen to Toriel and stay in the Ruins. Then again, she had wandered all the way up a mountain. She would grow up and get curious wouldn’t she? Maybe she won’t remember the surface, and have no desire to escape… But then what if she died of old age? Or got sick? Would Chara have to do it all over again the next time someone fell down?

They were brought out of their circulating thoughts when Blue hopped out of bed and onto the floor. “Well if Tori’s not going to sleep, and _you’re_ not going to sleep, then I don’t have to sleep either!” With her declaration in place, she flicked on the lights and dove into the toy box. “What should we play, Chara?”

Chara didn’t remember telling Blue their name. They needed to keep a tighter hold on their thoughts. _’Nah, I’m no fun to play with. You go ahead.’_ Then again, Blue had said their name perfectly. It made them wonder…

_’Actually, let’s play school. We’ll start with a spelling game using those blocks over there.’_

Blue retrieved blocks A-Z from the toy box and piled them up at her feet. The letters N and G were missing, but it was better than nothing. It was lucky that Blue wasn’t opposed to learning games. _’Okay first up: Spell out your favorite color.’_

Blue grabbed the blocks for P and I before laying them back down with a pout. _’Are you trying to spell pink? Pink is your favorite color?’_ So the color of a person’s soul didn’t line up with their favorite color. Their soul had been red, not gold, so it wasn’t all that surprising. They never liked red very much. It was the color of their eyes.

“Pink is an awesome color!!” Blue proclaimed and pointed at the tutu that she refused to sleep without. “Red and white came together and made it- symbolizing love. Nothing’s tougher than love!!”

_’Maybe you should hold off on the fairytales for a while,’_ Chara dismissed. _’How about your favorite food?’_

Blue picked out several blocks from the box, but the word was too long to spell. She settled on ‘SWEETS’ instead.

_’Well if you like sweets there’s no shortage of pie around here.’_ Chara paused before choosing the next word. _’How about… you try and spell your name. Do you have all the blocks to do it?’_

Blue surveyed the jumble of letters and smiled. “Yes!”

Chara tensed and resisted the urge to hold Blue’s breath. This was it. They had found a way around the broken names! Blue cleared away the ‘SWEETS’ and began selecting the different letters. Chara watched intently.

‘B’

‘L’

….

Oh no.

Four blocks were lined up on the floor- three letters and one zero to make up for a missing O. They spelled out ‘BLO0’… Of course they did.

“Ta da!!~” Blue celebrated with jazz hands. “Now it’s my turn to be the teacher! Ummm. Spell out a word that describes how you feel right now!”

_’Er...’_ They had only played along this far to see if they could make any progress on the names. Now that that was a bust, Chara didn’t want to be stuck playing this childish game all night. They suddenly felt very foolish. _’No, I think it’s time for bed now.’_ It was best to get the nightmares over with, anyway.

Blue squeezed her eyes shut and stuck out her tongue. “Boo!! That’s what the teacher would say! _I’m_ the teacher and I say do your homework!”

_Ugh. How did it come to this?_ Chara had been considered royalty when they had first started out. Everywhere they went they had been treated with respect. Now they sat captive in a meaningless child’s game.

“You used to be royalty?” Blue’s eyes ignited in awe. “Like a prince or princess?”

Chara cursed themselves internally. They’d been so careless with their thoughts lately! _’Err- Not exactly—‘_

“Did you have a castle? I want to see!” If Blue had a tail it would be wagging a mile a minute.

_’No!’_ Chara could think of a few choice words they felt like spelling out with the blocks now. _’There’s no castle! What I meant by royal was… I was monarch of the leaf pile!’_

Blue blinked and tilted her head to the side.

_’…Yeah! No leaves fell off that tree with out MY knowing about it.’_ They let out a cough and looked idly around the room. _’It was a… PRETTY important job, so- As your superior, I say it’s time for bed.’_

There was a stretch of silence. Then, Blue popped up to her feet, and plopped herself into bed. “Yes your majesty!” She gave a bow for good measure. “Hey, if you’re my imaginary friend, does that make me part butterfly, too?”

Butterfly? What was she… Oh, monarch butterfly. It could be hard to follow her train of thought sometimes. _’Uh, sure. Be whatever you want. Goodnight, Blue.’_

“Night night, Chara.”

Within moments, she was fast asleep. Chara remained alert, but unable to move. ‘Be whatever you want’. Yeah right. If Chara could be alive again, they would do so in a hypothetical heartbeat. Sure, anything was possible- especially in a world with magic- but how could anything good come out of all that’s happened? Life seemed tame for the moment, but eventually fate would drop the other foot.

And that foot was hovering right over Chara.

If the only way to interact through this world was through the death of others, what good would their continued presence be? Any time they did something for themselves, no matter how small, it always seemed to backfire. Would they be able to hold back their selfishness for the duration of Blue’s life? And even beyond then? The fact that they had to ask themselves that question in the first place was proof enough.

Blue would suffer less if Chara wasn’t here.

They stretched out as far as they could reach as they had when switching from Cyan to Orange. They put all they had into it- trying to latch onto any presence other than Blue’s. With no one there, their efforts felt so vain.

But then they caught hold of **something**.

A familiar setting flickered into view with the static of an old television set. They found themselves surrounded by gold flowers, and were immediately struck with the feeling of extreme light –headedness. The feeling persisted until the only direction they could sense was down.

It became unbearable, and Chara let go.

They snapped back to Blue, and collapsed on the hardwood floor, breathing hard to clear their head. They felt hollow and cold, and wrapped their arms tight around themselves.

_’Blue! I-I’m sorry! I don’t know what happened- I was j-just—‘_

They were cut off by a soft whistling sound coming from behind them. They turned to look over their shoulder and froze.

Blue was sleeping soundly in the bed.

And Chara was looking at her through a veil of bangs.

And they were _literally_ looking through their bangs, as they were transparent. Astonished, Chara released their torso and lifted their hands to their face.

_Chara’s_ hands- familiar and pale.

_’I-I’m… me.’_

They had detached themselves from Blue’s body, leaving their consciousness as a transparent silhouette.

They could leave if they wanted to.

Giving Blue one last look, they made for the bedroom door. But something was off. They pushed their hand outward so that it phased through the wood, only to recoil upon reaching to the other side. It had felt like their fingertips had become encased in ice! Chara backed away several steps until they were inches from the sleeping child. The sensation of body heat returned, and it filled their being.

They got colder the farther they wandered from their host. Even though they had been separated physically, they remained bound to a limited radius.

Chara wanted to curse fate for getting their hopes up, but it was more progress than they could’ve asked for. And they were getting really tired of disappointment. It was quieter thinking with only their own thoughts, and it had been a long time since it had been so easy to move. They sat down, attempting to lean against the side of the bed, but phased through it and fell to the floor. That would take some getting used to. If they weren’t careful they might fall through the floor.

The soft whistling had come from a gap in Blue’s mouth where she had lost a tooth. She looked even smaller when she was curled up like that. The whistling petered out until it stopped completely, and Blue closed her mouth into a frown. She started to whine and toss about.

Even when they were separated, she would still get the nightmares. Chara sighed with their own breath. _’For what it’s worth, I’ve never been so relieved to be myself.’_ They crawled up onto the bed, and rested themselves against the bedframe. _’I’m no good. Really. I’ve always felt like I’m missing something that other people have. It makes me want to quit._ ’ Their ghostly hand lay on Blue’s shoulder, and her cries quieted. _’But you really do need an extra pair of eyes to keep watch on you, huh? Well, don’t blame me when everything falls to hell. Er- to heck, I guess. The point is that I’m willing to hang on for a while longer.’_

Toriel wouldn’t be able to hear Blue’s distress when she was being this quiet, so Chara cleared their throat and recalled the lullaby Toriel used to sing for Asriel and them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Whoever therefore humbles himself as this little child, the same is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven" Matthew 18:4 (WEB)
> 
> You know that feeling of awkwardness in a book when you switch the point of view to another character? With a story like this, that feeling would normally be inevitable. That's part of why Chara is kept a constant character to sort of bridge it all together. Anyway, here is Blue- the ballerina of integrity. Please treat her kindly. Although she's already exploited Toriel's only weakness: Tiny hands!
> 
> I was listening to the song Bird With a Broken Wing by Owl City for the first time, and I think it lines up well with this fix. (Also I freaking love Owl City to the point of obsession)
> 
> Up next: Yep, absolutely nothing will go wrong at all.


	13. Unique in All the World

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chara cares for Blue while Toriel is distracted by something.

"But what if there's a monster in there?"

_'Toriel's a monster. Are you afraid she'll be in your closet?'_

"No, I mean the _scary_ monsters! The ones that come when I sleep!"

Chara sighed and shook their head. The child was able to beat a monster into dust without even realizing it, yet there she sat, cowering behind the toy box with a stuffed rabbit caught in the grip of her arms. The closet was ajar, revealing both the children's reflections in the mirror hung on the inner door. Dark circles bordered Chara's eyes, and their cheeks were permanently stained ruddy from their deadly fever. They were very much NOT a butterfly, to Blue's disappointment. _'Even if there was a monster in here, you wouldn't have to worry. I think it's safe to say that I'm the scariest person in the room right now._ '

Blue had the stuffed animal peak around the corner first. After seeing that Mr. Bunny hadn't been horribly dismembered, she scurried out from her hiding place and kicked the closet door shut. She exhaled loudly and flopped onto toy-scattered floor.

_'Was it that exhausting? I told you you were freaking out over a sweater. What you saw was a sleeve, not a tentacle.'_

"You didn't know that."

_'You've got me there.'_ Chara threw their arms up in surrender. What good would it do to argue logic with a kid? _'How old are you, anyway?'_

Blue counted out four fingers and held them up for Chara to see. "Seven."

_'Ah.'_

Chara had learned that Blue preferred counting in roman numerals- making peace signs for V’s and crossing her fingers for X’s. It was confusing, but she could count much higher that way when she used her hands.

Blue tapped her feet against the floor to some silent symphony. She rolled on her stomach across the entirety of the floor until she came to rest facedown. Then, she made a long, drawn out noise like an animal in labor.

_'Bored?'_

The noise was repeated.

_'Do you want to read a book?'_

"I already read them all."

_'Already? Man, you blew right threw those. How about a toy or something? You can't tell me they don't interest you at all.'_

Blue rolled over to look at Chara upside down. "When's Tori coming back?"

Chara let their feet leave the ground, suspending themselves in a ghost-like levitation to turn upside down and look Blue in the eyes. _'I'm sure she'll be back soon. She checks up on you every hour or so.'_

Toriel had been especially overbearing with Blue- making sure the bedroom door was always partially open, coming in to leave sweets at the bedside in the middle of the night, and holding her hand whenever she tried to explore the puzzle rooms. But recently the benevolent woman had taken to disappearing for extended periods of time. Well, she didn't _disappear_ , of course.

She went beyond the door to Snowdin forest.

Chara didn't know why.

"Can we at least go see if she's okay?"

_'You don't want to break your promise, do you?'_

Blue grumbled. Chara grinned. If there was one thing they could count on it was that Blue was honest to a fault. Toriel had put a chain across the front of the basement stairs, making Blue promise not to cross it. The chain wasn't exactly a barrier, she could jump over it with ease if she wanted to. It was her morality that held her back. It made Chara's job easier, anyway.

Unfortunately, Chara was running out of ways to keep Blue entertained in Toriel's absence. She exhausted herself of nearly everything in the house within just a few days. _'Let's explore some of the abandoned houses then. You can show me the rest of your dance when we get outside.'_

Blue sat straight up, eyes gleaming. "Really? You want to see my dance??"

That did the trick. _'Sure. I just have one condition. For as long as we’re exploring--'_ They swept downward and re-joined with Blue's body. "I get to drive."

Toriel told Blue to never go to the abandoned buildings on her own, but she wasn't technically alone with Chara there. Besides, They were well acquainted with the area. They wouldn't have to worry about the monsters since Toriel spoke with all of them. In fact, the monsters fled from her whenever she approached. Chara wondered what she said that intimidated them so much.

Chara stepped outside onto the orchid colored floor and detached themselves from Blue to watch her dance. They didn't care much for dancing, but they be able to avoid getting dizzy from this perspective. Sometimes Blue’s pirouettes got out of control.

Blue eagerly got into position with her feet placed at an angle, one in front of the other. She raised her arms above her to form a hoop, and began to dance. Her movements became delicate and floaty. She seemed like a completely different person than the child whining on the bedroom floor. She swayed with the elegance of a feather in the wind, yet her leg movements were sharp and agile.

"Are you watching?" Blue took a step back so that her back was against the front of the house. She was giving herself a lot of room for whatever she was preparing.

_'I'm watching.'_ She looked like she was enjoying herself too, just dancing and being herself. Her passion for dancing made Chara want to try drawing again. Maybe they'd be able to find the same peace with it as they had before.

Blue took a confident step forward with a determined glint in her eye. Her ballet slippers padded against the ground to finish the dance with a grand leap in the air, seeming to float a while before she came back down. She stumbled just the slightest amount on the landing, but it was nearly perfect. Despite this, she slouched unsatisfied.

_'Hey, great job!'_ Chara applauded. _'I'm actually a little impressed.'_ It was a sincere compliment coming from Chara.

Blue perked up at the praise and smiled wide with her missing tooth. She swept her arms into an exaggerated bow. From her humble position, she caught sight of something towards the front of the house.

A bright light like a star had sprung up from the ground. An uninvited chime brought the spirited moment to an end.

Chara's hands hovered mid-clap. Their eyes transfixed on the thing, and they held their breath.

_Here?_

_There's save traps here!?_

"What's that?" Blue cautiously trotted over and tried to touch it. Her hand passed through it like it was made out of light.

There was no way Gaster could've gotten into the Ruins to set that trap without anyone seeing- and the door was always locked! Could he have found another way in? Or had Toriel forgotten to close the door when she left?

What if he was here right now?

What if he was watching from someplace Chara couldn't see?

The Ruins were supposed to be their safe place, damn it!

"Chara? Charaaaaa?~" Blue waved a hand in front of Chara's face to bring them back to earth. They blinked in response, and rejoined with the girl's body without haste.

"Blue. Listen to me for a minute. Today isn't a good day to explore the Ruins. We should stay home and wait for Toriel to come back."

Blue wrenched back control with a defiant huff. "Aww, what? That's stupid, we were having so much fun!"

Chara took control again and held fast. "I know, I know! But..."

_There's a deranged scientist on the loose who's out to indirectly murder determined kids._

Of course, Blue had only caused the trap to manifest. Orange had done that, but supposedly didn't have the 'trait'. There was no evidence that Blue could reset and quite frankly Chara didn't feel like finding out if she could. Gaster might not have any interest in her, but it was better to be safe than sorry.

"I just thought of something fun we could do indoors," Chara improvised.

"Yeah? What's more exciting than exploring a dangerous place I'm not allowed to go?"

_______

 

The lock on Asgore's old bedroom was old, and easily bested by one of Blue’s hairpins. The hinges creaked as the door swung open, and it was easy to see why Toriel had locked it in the first place.

It hadn't been repaired like the rest of the house had been. The drawers had fallen out of the dresser, and loose pages littered the floor. Broken picture frames lay in pitiful heaps by the walls, and the once sturdy wood of the king-sized wardrobe had begun to rot. More startling however, was the pile of scorched photographs in the center of the floor. In fact, many of the items in the room were scorched.

Chara stepped carefully around the glass as not to harm Blue's feet. They picked up one of the photos and dusted it off. They recognized it as the photo that used to sit in the picture frame in Asriel’s room. It was the family photo they had taken before leaving the Ruins behind. Before leaving Home behind.

Chara had kept their face hidden behind a bouquet of flowers to hide their awful smile. Toriel looked youthful, and smiled even brighter than they remembered. Asgore's section of the photograph had been burned away. Chara was fine with that. They didn't feel like looking at him anyway. Finally, there in the bottom corner next to Chara...

"It's you!" Blue chimed as Chara caressed the waxy paper.

"Yeah." Chara said in a hushed voice. "It's me."

Examining the rest of the photos showed that Toriel wasn't missing her old husband. Every one of them was charred or burned into ashes. Chara knew looking at old pictures wouldn't keep Blue pacified for long, but that wasn't why they came here.

Prying the door of the wardrobe open proved to be no easy task. They yanked at it until it nearly came off its hinges. The wood was warped and blackened in several places, but most of the wardrobe's contents had remained untouched over the years. The inside was crammed wall-to-wall with moth-eaten sweaters and heavy rusted armor. Stacked tall from the bottom were a bunch of degraded cardboard boxes.

_Bingo._

Chara stood on the tips Blue's toes to reach the top box and pull them down one at a time. They were hardly treasure chests, each of them containing nothing but gardening tools and coffee mugs.

_Where is it?_ They skipped over the smaller boxes and lifted the largest one. Blue's small body wobbled under the sizable load and set it on the floor with a thud. Chara peeled away the cardboard and laid their eyes on the porcelain handle nestled inside. They dethatched from Blue to gauge her reaction with their own eyes.

_'What do you think? Interesting enough to play with for a while?'_

Blue took the delicate object from its box and held it to the light. It was Asgore's old tea set, stored away with sets of silvery dishware. Tiny flowers were hand painted on its side, a detail Chara knew Blue would find particularly appealing. She actually sat down at the sight of it.

"Wow! Are you sure I can play with this?"

_'Why not? It's not it’ll be missed.'_

She squealed in delight. Chara leaned back in mid-air, satisfied with their work.

_There. Did something right for once. I made a kid happy._

They hadn't felt this good since—

...

Heh. Asgore was right. It really was easier not thinking about them. No matter what advice Chara gave them, it didn't change what they ended up doing to the other kids. Chara had taken advantage of their trust, and failed them.

**Stop thinking about it.**

"You keep making that face."

Chara snapped to attention. Blue had gotten extremely close to them without Chara even realizing it. She was squinting at them just inches from their nose.

_'WHOA—Geez! You don’t know what a personal bubble is, do you?'_

Blue backed away, but only slightly. "You keep making a serious face." She scrunched up her face like she had just been handed a clump of wet hair. "Like this."

It didn't look like a very serious face.

Chara snorted at the comical exaggeration. They stopped laughing when Blue managed to seize their ghost-like arm and pull them to the floor beside her.

"If you're going to make scary faces, you can at least drink some tea while doing so."

_'Blue, come on. You know I don't like playing pretend.'_

"It's not pretend if it's a real tea set."

She kept on tugging at their arm.

_'Sometimes the answer is no. Let go.'_

Blue kept tugging still.

Chara made their arm intangible, and she stumbled backwards with nothing to hold on to. Chara barely had time to realize their mistake.

Blue stepped onto a shard of broken glass. She reeled back, knocking into the creaky wardrobe. The wood strained to hold the heavy, King-sized armor inside, and let out a horrid groan.

The whole wardrobe was falling.

Blue was clutching her foot beneath it.

_'NO! Move! Get back!-- GO BACK!!'_

Chara re-fused with Blue without haste and threw her arms up to feebly defend against the oncoming furniture. They'd both be crushed in a moment.

The seconds ticked by in slow motion.

A shiver ran up her spine.

The seconds continued on.

Why wasn't anything happening?

Chara uncovered Blue's face and looked down at the deep orchid color of the Ruins. The leaves rested undisturbed from their place in front of the house. The star-like light shone quietly alongside them.

They had reset without dying.

Blue swiveled around in panic, flinching like something was still going to fall on her. Chara lost all control of the small girl. She curled up into a tight ball and began to sob through short breaths. Large tears pooled up and fell onto the pink silk of her tutu.

_'H-hey! You're okay! You're okay!’_ Chara emerged and cupped her face in their hands. _'I’m sorry! Look at me. Just look at me... and breath, alright?'_

Blue grasped Chara's arms like a lifeline. Her eyes were locked with theirs- wide but without their usual cheer. She was filled to the brim with fear, and her breath showed no sign of slowing.

_'It's easy. We can do it together, alright? Breathe in...'_

Blue did her best to follow Chara's example, but her breath kept cutting out in hyperventilation. She wouldn't look at anything but them. Her nails dug into Chara's form, but they couldn’t feel it. They paused a moment before continuing.

_'Breathe out...’_

_‘That's it, just keep breathing...'_

Blue did so, and repeated the process with Chara until she recovered enough to find her voice.

"C-Chara?"

Chara did their best to give an encouraging smile. _'See? I won't let anything bad happen to you.'_

Blue slackened her grip on them. "I was s-scared. I th-thought we were..."

She looked like she was going to start crying again. Chara had to help her see that there was nothing to fear. _'I'll push the wardrobe over so this won't ever have a chance of happening again. You won't have to worry! Would you like that?'_

Blue nodded with reddened eyes, and Chara drifted alongside the girl back to the empty house. Sure enough, the wardrobe was still standing as if nothing had even happened.

_She's okay. She's okay._ Chara had to keep reminding themselves.

They hadn't died, had they? What if they had, but had just become numb to it by now. Somehow that scared them more.

But Blue was okay.

Blue was alive.

Blue had the determination trait.

It couldn't' have been all that rare if two out of the three kids Chara had seen so far had it. But then why weren't people coming back from the dead all over the place? It didn't make sense. But it didn't matter right now.

What mattered was that now they had a fighting chance. They'd do things right this time. No more moping over every little thing. The only thing that mattered was Blue.

If determination was what kept her going, then they were determined to keep it that way.

No matter the cost.

Unfortunately their ghostly form was unable to exert force onto the wardrobe. They were able to touch it, but couldn't interact with anything other than Blue. They couldn't just leave the wardrobe as it was, so they turned to their sniffling companion.

_'I'm going to need your help.'_

Blue shook her head furiously and squeezed her eyes shut. Chara drifted over and took one of her hands in theirs.

_'You don't have to do anything. I can make sure it never hurts you again, but I need you to let me be in control for a while. Can you do that?'_

Blue opened one eye at a time and her trembling subsided. She gave a tiny nod. Chara nodded back.

The wardrobe came crashing down with three well-aimed kicks. Chara was careful to keep Blue at a safe distance from the wreckage. The sound of splintering wood bounced throughout the house.

Toriel was making her way through the basement- in earshot of the chaos. She wasted no time rushing to the room to witness the destruction.

"Child!" She exclaimed in alarm with her hands pressed to he head.

"Tori!" Blue stumbled forward forgetting to watch her footing. Fragments of porcelain were mixed in with broken glass. Chara wasn’t able to regain control in time, and a second foot injury was guaranteed. Blue cried out, and Chara attempted to divide the pain between them. It was hard to tell if it worked, though. To Chara, getting a cut on the foot was like getting tickled with a feather.

Toriel looked faint. "Do not move! I will come to you!" She took every step with care until she made it around the debris. Blue was scooped up and swiftly carried out of Asgore’s room to the kitchen table. The small child was perched in the smallest of the chairs as Toriel banished the pain with her healing magic.

“Well now.” She dabbed at her forehead with a handkerchief, allowing herself to relax. “It was irresponsible of me to be gone for so long. I should have known better. I…” Her mouth twisted downward and she looked back towards the basement stairs. “It is clear that I will stay here with you from now on.”

Earlier this morning Chara might’ve been annoyed at their leash being tightened, but considering that Toriel almost came home to a child pancake they decided it was probably for the best.

Toriel excused herself to clean up the hazardous room, hanging her traveling cloak on a hook on the wall as she left. Blue hobbled over to it and saw that it was dripping. A thin layer of melting slush was caught in the folds of the fabric. She poked at it guiltily. “Did Tori have to go someplace important? Did I mess it up?”

_’It’s not like I know. Why don’t you just ask her yourself?’_

Chara knew that Toriel must’ve gone somewhere around the Snowdin area, but they didn’t know why she did. They couldn’t let Blue’s mind be filled with curiosity over the rest of the Underground. Surely Toriel felt the same. She would probably know if it was best to tell Blue or not.

Blue made it halfway down the hall when a fiery explosion burst out of Asgore’s doorway. Toriel had attacked it mercilessly.

“If you harm a single _hair_ on their heads so help me I will strike you with all I have! Do you hear me, damn it?!”

Chara’s mouth dropped and slapped their hands over Blue’s ears.

"Tori?"

The woman jolted, cheeks tinting pink beneath her fur.

"Did you just say dam-"

Chara took over.

"I- I mean I was wondering, why did you leave the Ruins?" Chara glanced up at their mother. Though they had already begun to guess her answer.

"Oh."

Chara couldn't tell if she was relieved or even more stressed by the question. She fiddled idly with the hem of her robe.

"You see, I have had many children in the past. Most of them were human, just as you are." She approached Chara and gave Blue's head a pat. "I have been searching for them in secret for some time now."

Chara drew a blank and stared at nothing. This gave Blue the opportunity jump back into the conversation.

"You lost your kids? That's terrible! Why are we still standing here? We have to find them!!"

_'Hang on a sec, Blue. They're not--'_

"I think not, my child," Toriel interrupted. "It is just as dangerous for you outside as it is being left here by your self."

_'What she said.'_

"But I'll be safe if I'm with you! It gets boring doing the same things over and over-- I'll go nutso! So you have to let me help!"

Toriel actually hesitated.

Chara drifted over to their mother and gripped her shoulders. She didn't notice it, but that didn’t stop Chara from trying. _' Tori. Mom. Work with me here. You're not actually going to agree to this are you?'_

But she didn't know there wasn't any point in searching. Her eyes were filled with longing.

"Perhaps..." she began. "Perhaps if you were to promise to stay close at all times..."

Blue's eyes lit up like sparklers. "I will! I will!"

_'You won't! You won't!'_

"And listen to everything I say very _very_ closely..."

Blue marked her chest with an X. "Cross my heart and hope to die!"

_'Don't even joke!'_

"It is settled then." Toriel announced. "Tomorrow we shall set out together. Since you will be accompanying me, the trip will be a longer one. Please make sure to pack everything you need. Such items might include a toothbrush, an extra change of warm clothes, some snacks, a hairbrush..."

Toriel's list went on for a solid five and a half minutes before the packing had even started. Once Blue and Chara were alone again, Chara attempted to dissuade her from the whole idea.

_'Blue, there's no point in the search. The other humans are gone-- there's no one to find.'_

Blue just smiled and continued to pack several poorly-folded sweater into an old backpack. "I know," she said matter-of-factly.  
Chara was taken aback. This was news to them. _'What? How can you know? I never mentioned them to you.'_

"The voices in my dream told me so! They told me about Tori-- oh! And you too, of course!!"

Chara's stomach dropped to the floor.

_'...What did they say?'_

Blue tapped her chin with her index finger as she tried to remember. "They were moving around a lot. And they kept making noises like WoOoshhhh!~" She wiggled her arms to match the intensity of the sound. "And then they said that if someone was hurting that I should help them feel better. Chara, Tori’s sad a lot of the time. Even when we read together.”

Chara stared at Blue, and Blue stared blankly back. So those nightmares weren't just the result of Chara's paranoia. The only question was whose voices were they? The other kids or...?

"So can I still go?" Blue clasped her hands together and gave Chara a killer pair of puppy dog eyes. "Pretty please??"

It was a naive request. But then there was something about her honesty that struck a chord with Chara. Even when Chara inspected the darkest corner of Blue’s mind, they hadn’t really found anything they didn’t already know. Blue was open with everything she felt, never hiding anything.

She had the sort of integrity Chara just couldn't say no to.

_'...Alright--'_

"YIPPEE!!" Blue squisheded Chara into a sudden hug.

It was the first hug Chara had had in a very long time.

Needless to say, they got a little flustered.

_'H-hey! You can only go if you agree to stay close to Toriel! Got it?'_

"Yes!!~"

_'Ugh.'_ Chara patted Blue on the back.

_'Just be careful, okay?'_

_______

  
The snow-dressed pine trees towered far above even Toriel's head now. The monsters probably found a better type of magic to sustain the plant life underground, but it still would've taken years of growth to reach that height, even with magic. It had been a very long time since Chara was last here. Even so, it didn’t feel like it had been more than a couple of weeks.

The good part was that Toriel was with them this time. The kind woman had Blue and herself bundled up in several layers of warm clothes that protected against the wind and kept their faces hidden. Blue still wore the tutu though. She took great pleasure in skating with it across the ice in the fairy-dust snowfall. Toriel would eventually call her over when it was time to get moving again, but not before helping Blue make a snowman.

Chara floated behind, letting Toriel and Blue walk ahead of them. Snowflakes passed through their body, but their cold was reduced to a surprisingly pleasant tickle. They came to the narrow bridge and Toriel lifted Blue into her arms while they crossed. Chara paused to breathe in the minty air.

For the first time, Snowdin didn't feel so biting cold.

The town was actually pretty cute, too. There were even a few more houses dotted here and there. Toriel rented a room at the inn and did a little shopping next door. She bought a few cinnamon buns, but it turned out that Blue preferred butterscotch.

Go figure.

Toriel agreed to make her famous butterscotch pie when they got back to the Ruins.

For the time being, however, their search continued. They made it to waterfall without attracting any unwanted attention.

Chara didn't mind wandering out of the Ruins, but they didn't see how this whole expedition would improve Toriel’s mood. Had she really been searching all this time? If she found out that the other children were long gone she would finally be able to stop... But would that really help her? Wasn't it better not to know the truth? Chara didn't know.

What they wanted to know was how Toriel was able to remember Cyan and Orange.

Blue grew tired of walking once they had reached a particularly rainy walkway, so Chara took over. They listened to the rainfall like the gentle shake of a tambourine. Here they were. Walking side by side with their mother and she didn't even realize it.

"So, Tori…” Chara spoke in their best impersonation of Blue. “What did the other children look like?? It might be easier to find them if I know what to look for."

Not that it would do any good. But they were curious to see just how much memory she retained. It certainly wasn’t a question Toriel thought she’d be asked. Chara could plainly see her struggle before she even uttered a word.

“Of course!” she spoke the assurance more to herself than Chara. There was a pause of silence, making the rain seem louder than before. Toriel focused intently on the path ahead. She was trying very hard. Chara had to give her some credit. “They are human, just as you are. I am sure they will not be so difficult to recognize when we find them.”

Nothing specific. There was no reason to be disappointed. This is what Chara had predicted, after all. “Right. I guess it would be obvious. Forget I asked.” They tried not to drag their feet for the rest of the walk- because that would be a very un-Blue thing to do.

The rain grew loud again, but Toriel did her best to fill the silence by humming. It was the same song that she always hummed, but it sounded sadder and sadder each time she sang it. Chara watched their footsteps send ripples into the puddles. Blue’s image stared back with eyes only slightly redder than ocean blue.

“Still you, Blue.”

They were so intent on staring into the water that they had almost ran into the container placed in front of them. Toriel had also been distracted with her thoughts and walked right by it, still humming. Chara found a note attached to the side of the cylindrical object and read it. They recognized the handwriting immediately.

‘Take care not to catch a cold. Please take one.’

They wanted so badly to smile at the note. Putting umbrellas out for the aquatic people of Waterfall was as pointless as giving a snowman a scarf, yet at the same time, it was exactly the kind of thing he would do. It had felt like forever since Chara had gotten that cold. They turned on their heel to walk away. They didn’t want any favors from the miserable old king.

But Blue objected, and made Chara do a 360 spin right back to the container. “We’re all wet!! You might be less of a grump if you were dry.” She picked out a magenta umbrella and pranced to catch up with Toriel.

Toriel was still zoned out in her solemn humming. Blue approached with the umbrella and stood atop her tippy toes to shield Toriel from the downpour. She couldn’t quite reach high enough, but it was enough to get Toriel’s attention. The woman got down to Blue’s level with a smile and took the umbrella with gratitude, holding it over the both of them. With one hand on the umbrella and the other holding Blue’s, Toriel resumed her song.

Blue joined in. To Chara’s surprise, she didn’t sound too bad. She swung her arms as she hopped from puddle to puddle. She sang more cheerfully than Toriel, and the two tunes didn’t sync well at first. Toriel tried to sing more energetically, and Blue attempted to sing hum more elegantly. Likewise, Toriel cheered up while Blue's face became unreadable in the water's reflection. The resulting duet changed from somber to bittersweet.

It even sounded a little hopeful.

"You are a very good singer.” Toriel nodded down at the child. “Have you taken lessons before?"

Blue shrugged and kept jumping from puddle to puddle. "Yeah, but I can't do it right. You should hear my classmates."

"Well, I thought it was quite lovely. Did you have dance lessons as well? You are rather talented for someone your age."

Ballet slippers stomped into a puddle so that water splashed up to Blue's knees. "My form is all wrong. I have to practice more so I can be as good as the others. I'm nothing special." She said it without any emotion at all.

Like it was just a fact.

Just the way of things.

Toriel frowned and gave Blue a concerned look. "And who would say such a thing as that?"

Starry blue eyes met soft brown ones and Blue spoke. "My classmates."

Chara's gut burned. They had dealt with their share of bullies on the surface- both young and old. It never ceased to amaze them how positively uncompassionate some people could be. But Blue. Blue didn't even _know_ she was being bullied. And that made them even angrier.

Toriel stopped walking- mother mode fully activated. Her face became serious, no-longer zoning out. "There are plenty of miraculous things in this world that are wrongfully labeled as unmiraculous. They just take a while to notice sometimes. "

"Like what?"

"Well..." Toriel knelt down, face tinted pink from light shining through the magenta umbrella. She directed Blue's eyes to the ceiling speckled with a galaxy of crystals that glimmered in the rain. “Despite being so far below the surface in a place where no one was ever likely to see, there is still so much beauty to find here. Or as another example-“ She gestured to a bird monster slowly flittering from rock to rock in the distance. “Despite their size, birds and other creatures are able to lift themselves off of the ground to reach new heights. Since birds can be seen almost everywhere, people rarely take the time to appreciate how astounding they are.” Toriel brushed a loose curl out of Blue’s face and smiled. “And across all of time and space, you and I could have been much farther apart without a chance of ever meeting. But here we are- together. And I find that to be truly miraculous.”

Blue took a moment to consider this, and she lifted her head with eyes sparkling in wonder. She thought back to the astronomy books she had come to covet. “So I’m miraculous in the same way that light can reach Earth after traveling all the way from a star? And in the way caterpillars turn into butterflies?”

Toriel brightened and gave Blue an encouraging thumbs up. “That is right! Even if there was another little girl who was exactly like you in every visible way, it is _you_ who is right here and now. You have a unique story to tell, and you are very special. Please cherish this.”

“I will!!” Blue exclaimed, bursting with energy.

“Good! Now if I recall correctly, I do believe this is the way to the old snail farm. If it is still there, that is.”

“Are we going to ride geysers?” Blue chirped.

“What? Such a strange thing to say, my child. It would be much too dangerous to use geysers as a means of transportation. No, I am sure I know of a safer way down. Come along, now.”

_______

 

“What does snail pie taste like?”

_’Indescribable. One taste and you’ll never forget the flavor.’_

“I can’t wait!!”

_’Ehhh… I’m sure you can manage.’_

Blue leaned over the fence of the snail enclosure. She had taken the opportunity to explore the farm while keeping in view of Toriel who was negotiating a price with the monster in charge. She sure was taking a long time. Blue propped herself up on the fence and kicked out her legs.

Time moved by at a snail’s pace, and Blue glanced over at Toriel. It looked like the ghost monster was giving her a hard time. He kept shouting loudly, and Toriel was smiling uncomfortably. People didn’t usually shout at Toriel, being the kind woman she was. But she didn’t seem to take it to heart. It was rare for her to speak with anyone with such… colorful vocabulary these days. Chara kept putting their ghost-hands over Blue’s ears to keep her from hearing the worst of it.

“Can we explore over by the houses?” Blue asked, wanting to distance herself from the conversation.

_’As long as you can still see Toriel,’_ Chara allowed.

There were three houses at the edge of the farm. Well, two houses and a dilapidated heap of what was once a house. They were pink, gray, and brown respectively. Naturally, Blue was drawn to the pink one first. There wasn’t much to see, but there was plenty to hear. Music pulsed out from every open window in an eerie yet electrifying beat. Once she memorized the tune, Blue started humming along out of habit. She stood on her tiptoes to peer into a window on the side.

_’Call me crazy, but I don’t think you should be creeping at people’s windows.’_

“Just a quick peek,” she whispered and stretched further. “It’s a really good song for dancing.”

She could tell pre-recorded music from live, and this particular beat was perfect for any party. Sure enough, she saw that the sound wasn’t from a radio, but from a ghost monster practicing on the turntables. The sound was otherworldly, and the scent of ectoplasm permeated the heart-decorated room.

The spooky dj wasn’t the only monster present. A second ghostly figure was twisting about nearby in levitation. Blue’s eyes grew wide- completely engrossed in the zero-gravity dance. No gravity meant no limit to the number of flips this monster could do, and he certainly took advantage of it. The song came to an end and the dancing monster posed dramatically, flipping a lock of ghost hair out of his face.

The pinkish ghost had a flashed a dashing smile to the sound mixer. “That was simply MARVELOUS, Blooky!” he cheered. “You’ve really come a long way!”

The paler ghost blushed blue and hid their face. “Oh, gee… I’m really glad you liked it.”

The pink ghost performed a wide loop de loop, coming to a stop centimeters in front of Blooky’s face. “Yes! Your music is absolutely perfect! And my dancing is absolutely perfect! But did we get any responses to our ads?”

Blooky slouched and shook their head. “No… I think the papers we sent out fell apart in the rain……”

“UGH! So no one wants to join us?! Well, those dummies don’t know what they’re missing!”

“Actually, I think… maybe if we just laminate the ads…”

“Sorry about that, Blooky. I know I totally sounded like Mad just now, but I don’t see how we’re going to find a back up dancer before the performance. We can’t let our talents go to waste like this. We. Need. A. Dancer. Right here. Right now.”

Blue was smiling from ear to ear.

Chara glanced from her to the ghosts.

_’Oh no.’_

_‘Don’t—‘_

But Blue had already swung her leg up to the window. She tumbled to the floor with a crash, startling the two monsters. She stood up and smoothed her tutu with dignity before giving a wave.

“Hello!~”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Let integrity and uprightness preserve me; for I wait on thee." Psalm 25:21 (KJV)
> 
> HAPPY BIRTHDAY UNDERTALE! Man, I have never been so busy in my entire life. At least I got this out in under three weeks. There were two alternate title for this chapter 'Tori-el No Uta' and 'I Blame Gravity For All My Problems'. In the end, I decided to go with a reference to The Little Prince movie (I highly recommend it if you have Netflix and are into animated movies). 
> 
> By the way, what's your favorite food?
> 
> Up Next: OOOOH YES!


	14. Butterfly Effect

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chara and Blue join Mettaton's performance whether they want to or not.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GAH! This one was supposed to be out earlier, but I ended up getting sick and then immediately swamped with work. But I have good news! I set up a DeviantArt account here: http://passionrising.deviantart.com
> 
> I draw primarily with colored pencils, but I'd like to try digital somewhere down the road. There's not much there right now, but I will be drawing each of the fallen children as they come along. If you have any requests for scenes or characters please let me know!

_'Blue! You said you would stay where we can see Toriel!'_

"I can still see her," Blue replied innocently. She peered back out the window and pointed. "See? She's over there freaking out. Gosh, I guess that snailsman finally got on her last nerve, huh?"

_'YOURE GOING TO GIVE HER A HEART ATTACK! That's it. We're going back to the Ruins right now. We need to convince Toriel to give up on this whole search thing. '_

"Why don't we just tell her, then?"

_'Yeah, brilliant. Go ahead and tell her that her two kids from who knows how long ago are dead- and that you know this because one of your OTHER dead kids has been stuck living as a time-traveling ghost that has a leaky memory and terrifying nightmares! Do you know how creepy that sounds?'_

"It sounds more confusing to me..."

_'Stop talking to me out loud. Think what you want to say instead.'_

"Why?"

"A-HEM!"

Blue looked back over her shoulder at two very confused ghosts.

"What in the name of fabulousness do you think you’re doing? Breaking into my home and spouting off nonsense- who are you even talking to?"

 Blue threw Chara a glance. _'I know you always want to tell the truth, but you absolutely CANNOT tell them about me.'_ She scrunched up her face and tapped her chin with an index finger. Finally, she grinned and pointed at the spot Chara was floating, not saying a word about them at all.

"The wall?? You expect me to believe you were talking to the wall?" The ghost's eyes swiveled over the area surrounding Chara. "This had better not be some kind of joke. If there's another ghost in here I can find out you know. Now are you going to be honest or am I going to have to search for them?"

The ghost zipped close and Chara couldn't help but flinch. They remained unseen, but could a ghost monster really sense a human ghost? They didn't want to be found out like this. If word got out that Chara Dreemur was still ‘alive’, people would surely start asking questions. First they would ask what happened with Asriel. Then they would find out the rest.

 _'Blue, do something,'_ Chara whispered through clenched teeth. After speaking, the ghost immediately locked eyes with them and squinted.

"U-um-" Blue struggled to come up with an excuse. She knew what she _could_ say, but the words quivered at the tip over her tongue.

The ghost inched closer and closer to Chara until they could practically feel his thick ectoplasmic eyelashes tickle their skin. They reached over and gave Blue a small push.

"Imaginary friend!!" She blurted out. "It's my imaginary friend!"

She regained the ghost's attention, and he drifted away from Chara, allowing them to release their held breath. "Imaginary friend you say?" He loomed over Blue with scrutinizing eyes. He was easily twice the size of the tiny child. "And what is the name of your 'imaginary friend'?"

Blue was starting to sweat, and looked to Chara for help. _'Whatever you do, don't say Chara.'_ Blue responded with a squeak.

"Bob.”

"Bob…"

The ghost squinted and repeated the name. "That is without a doubt... the most _precious_ thing I've ever heard! How old are you, sweetheart?"

Blue put on a shaky smile and held up her Roman numerals.

"Four? Why, you're just a _baby_ , darling!~ Absolutely adorable isn't she, Blooky?"

Blooky had shied away behind his turntables, but gave a small nod in response. With the pink ghost's back turned, Chara reunited with Blue where they could stay hidden.

 _I lied,_ Blue pouted, making sure not to speak aloud this time. _I lied to someone I just met. I'm a liar!_

 _'There, there,'_ Chara did their best to comfort her. _'If you hadn't, he would've seen right through us!'_

Blue blinked, Chara's pun completely going over her head.

"So.... Were you listening the whole time?" Blooky plucked up the courage to ask in voice that very much contrasted their cousin's. "Did you… think it was ok…?”

"Yeah!!" Blue jumped in place. "I'd never heard anything like it before, Blooky!~"

Blooky's face tinted blue at the use of their nickname, but they smiled all the same. "...Heh...."

"They go by Napstablook, darling. And yours truly has been going by a new name these days as well." The ghost flipped a wispy lock of hair from his face. He conjured forth a feathered boa and posed with confidence flaring. "After all, what's a star without name that matches its brilliance? I can hear it now, thousands of fans screaming at the top of their lungs- it's Mettaton, baby!"

Blue's eyes were wide as planets, and she applauded at Mettaton's antics. "I love stars!!"

"Who doesn't? And you've come at just the right time! We've needed a dancer and/or singer for weeks. Plenty of monsters can only dream of being on stage with moi, but they're all too intimidated by the spotlight!"

_'Didn't they just say the reason they didn't get any responses was because their ads washed away? This guy's ego is bigger than an Icecap's.'_

"Luckily, (seeing as you just barged through the window of my house completely uninvited) you aren't shy at all! And because of your blatant disregard of privacy, you will now have the pleasure of performing alongside the Underground's most acclaimed idol! And I'm not taking no for an answer."

_______

 

Chara urged Blue to leave as soon as the ghosts' backs were turned, but the front door was blocked with sound and lighting equipment. It didn't matter for the ghosts- they just phased through the walls. With Napstablook setting up the stage outside, Blue was left to practice with Mettaton. She followed along as he showed her the steps of the dance- much less eager to break out than she had been to break in.

_They needed a dancer, and I was there. You can't say it was just a coincidence._

_'You're right. Fate likes kicking me in the teeth too much for it to be a coincidence. We don't know if these people are safe. What if they hurt you?'_

_Then you'll protect me! Just like before!_

Chara bit back a groan and raised their arms along with Blue's into a begrudging pirouette. She had bounced back surprisingly well from her near death-by-wardrobe experience, but Chara couldn't say the same for themselves. Their nerves felt like they were made of frayed electrical wire.

_'He'll have to move the equipment away from the door for you to get to the stage. After he does, we run for it.'_

_B-but, Chara-_

_'I only agreed to let you leave the Ruins if you stayed with Toriel. No. Buts.'_

Blue sulked and her moves became sloppy. She tripped over her own feet and fell onto the plush pink carpeting.

"Need a break, darling? Ok, but only a quick one. The show's tonight, after all. I'll see if we have anything that non-ghost monsters can drink." He phased out of the room in search of a drink.

_'Good, he's gone. Try going back through the window.'_

She didn’t want to. She _really_ didn’t want to. But more than that she was determined to keep her word. She stalked over to the window and swung her leg upward to rest on the windowsill, saying nothing. It didn’t matter that the tears didn’t fall, Chara could feel the effort it took to hold them back.

“Alright, stop.” Chara eased into control, interrupting Blue’s climb out the window. “Why are you crying over this?”

“I’m not cry-“ A tear strayed and rolled down her cheek. “Oh. I’m sorry, I know you don’t like it when I complain.”

“I just don’t see why this is affecting you so much. It’s _one_ dance. You can do that someplace safer.”

“I didn’t want to miss another one, that’s all. It doesn’t matter.” Blue continued her struggle out the window, and managed to pull herself up so that her stomach rested on the window’s edge. Chara helped her up the rest of the way before having her lounge back against the window’s frame.

“You missed a dance before? What happened?”

Blue turned away from no one and wiped her face with the sleeve of the coat she had borrowed from Toriel. From her perch, she could see Napstablook bustle around setting up the lights. The lights flickered intermittently and looked like they had been salvaged from the dump. Then again, party lights were a rarity underground, so they were probably the best that could be found on short notice.

“I step on my own feet when I dance sometimes. The other dancers laughed at me.”

“You don’t trip that much. I don’t know much about dancing, but you seem good enough as far as I can tell.”

Blue kicked at the the window frame. “Good enough isn’t good enough. I thought that maybe since they didn’t like my dancing they might like me if they got to know me. So I talked to them. They laughed, saying that I was weird, and I figured that was true and laughed with them.” She paused and watched one of the party lights flicker out. Napstablook rushed over to give it a twist. It wouldn’t light up like the rest of them, and had to be replaced. The light was burnt out and broken.

“They were all excited about the Butterfly Recital, and I asked when it was…. I’m sure they just got the dates mixed up…. Or maybe I heard them wrong.”

Chara dug Blue’s nails into the metal.

“Anyway, I figured that I’d have my own recital. I sent invitations to everyone, making sure no one was left out…” She pulled her knees to her chest and rested her chin on them. “They didn’t come. They were must’ve been really busy.”

**“…”**

“I was… a little upset. I thought they might be able to see me from the top of the mountain. But…”

Blue sniffled back a few tears and wiped her nose.

“Haha… I tripped again.”

**It’s THEIR fault.**

_Blue fell down here because of those other kids. Sure, she had her odd mannerisms and talents, but what she enjoyed doing above all else was dancing. She struggled with it more than she would’ve liked, and she was made fun of for it._ Chara almost wished the other kids _had_ followed her up the mountain.

**Possessing them would’ve been fun.**

… No. Chara couldn’t let themselves think like that. There was no point. They needed to focus on keeping Blue safe… But she had really gotten her hopes up for this dance, hadn’t she?

"Ugh! Come on, that's not fair. You can't just drop these things on me out of the blue, making me pity you."

Blue looked startled and began patting herself all over. "Something's dropping out of me?"

"…It was a pun."

"I have _puns_ coming out of me??"

"N...never mind."

The unexpected sound of shattering glass nearly caused Blue to fall out the window. She clutched the frame and looked up at Mettaton who had dropped a glass of water. How long had he been floating there? He stared at Blue with a less than photogenic expression. "You climbed the mountain? As in- you're from the surface?" He floated close and tried to peer beneath the hood of Blue's coat.

Oh.

So he had been floating there for a while.

Wonderful.

Chara took full control and leapt from the window, landing on the dirt outside. Mettaton wasn't far behind them. They grabbed a nearby mic stand and pointed it offensively at the ghost. Napstablook looked up from their work on the lights in confusion.

"Oh. Were you two going to sing together? I haven't done the sound test yet..."

Mettaton floated nearer still, not fearing the improv weapon. Of course. Physical attacks wouldn't have any effect on a ghost. His eyes turned serious, without even batting an eyelash. "Trying to run away only makes it obvious. You're a human, aren't you? And so young too..."

Chara was backed into a corner with no defense against any attacks that might be thrown their way. They dove so that they were grounded in front of Napstablook. "Stay back! Fire any magic attacks and you risk hurting your cousin!"

"Magic attacks?" Napstablook was even more confused and flustered now. "Oh no... Am I in your way? Oh no... I'll go work on the sound so you guys can keep having fun. Sorry..."

The shy ghost immediately vanished from sight, and Chara was running out of ideas.

"H-humans can learn magic to you know! Don't make me use it!"

"No one's going to believe a performance like that, darling. Relax, I'm no brute."

Blue blinked her eyes into focus and dropped her tense stance. Chara still held fast to the mic stand. "So... you won't hurt me?"

"Heavens no! What kind of star would I be if I attacked my costars? True, the king needs souls to break the barrier, but one more wouldn't be nearly enough for that! Honestly it'd be a waste to take your soul when you've got so much to offer!"

Chara let the mic stand fall from their grip, but not because they felt safe.

_Dad's... Asgore's still collecting human souls. Just... WAITING for them. What was he planning to do? He hadn't called off the war, he was PROLONGING it._

_WHY?_

_Why not get it over with?! Didn't any of the other monsters remember that it only took one to leave? Now because of him, Blue was in even worse danger than I thought… Why would he do this?_

_..._

_No._

_I won’t let it happen._

_Not to Blue._

"You really see me as your costar?!" Her eyes lit up bright and innocent. "Really??"

Mettaton flipped his hair from his face and flashed a charming smile. "Why of course! It's only natural for a sensation as big as me to have back up. You, Blooky, and I are going to steal the breath of every monster in the Underground tonight. No monster would DARE harm a cohost of the Underground's greatest idol." He gave a wink. "We'll get you a body guard or two, start up your own fan club, talk to the king... a star like you ought to be allowed to bend the law a bit, hmm? So what do you say? Ready to get back to rehearsing?"

Blue looked like she was about to take off like a rocket and blast off right into the cavern ceiling. Her whole body shook with excitement, but she stopped herself before blurring out an immediate 'yes'.

_Chara? It sounds really fun... I think Tori might stop hiding in the ruins if it's safe for me out here._

...

_Chara?_

_'Sorry. It's just... a lot to take in at once. I...'_ Chara opened and closed the child's hands, blinked her eyelids, and shifted from foot to foot. Nothing hurt. The two of them weren't in danger. Everything was fine for the moment. _'I just keep feeling like something’s going to go horribly wrong any second. We should take this a step at a time and really think things through.'_

_...I didn't listen when you told me to stay with Toriel. If you want to leave I will. Like you said, I can dance anytime. It doesn't matter._

Chara grimaced, knowing that it very much _did_ matter to Blue. Their heart wasn't as cold and dead as they wished it was.

_'...I think we can stick around for one dance. Then we leave. And... MAYBE come back again if everything goes well.'_

Blue sniffled and let out a hiccup.

_'Geez, don't CRY. Answer the guy already- he's been staring at you for the past five minutes'_

"Darling? Are you speaking with that friend of yours? They can dance on stage with me too if that's what's troubling you. You _do_ want to be in the dance, don't you?"

Blue shook away the tears and leapt sky high with a triumphant cheer. "Yes! Yes! A thousand times _yes_!!”

"Marvelous! We could really use some extra limbs to swing! Or any for that matter. Of course I'll get mine soon enough- once I become corporeal. Come along!~"

Blue trotted behind Mettaton, swinging her arms at her side. "What is 'cor-por-eal'?"

"Oh, it's just when a ghost permanently joins with a body. It allows full control as a normal body would, and the ability to age normally, as well." His response was dismissive, but he had a dreamy look in his eyes.

"But... if you age, won't you die?"

"Yes, I know. You cannot bear to even think of enduring such a tragedy, but rest assured that a star like me won't go out without a bang! Immortality is overrated." He swirled around Blue with an admiring smile. "And what I would give to have legs of my own..."

"So you can use _anything_ as a body??"

Mettaton’s face contorted, no doubt imaging trying to become corporeal with something foul. "Well, yes technically speaking. But just any old body won't do. I need to feel like me. Otherwise I'll merely be possessing an object."

"I think I get it..."

"Anyway, that's enough idle chit chat. There are preparations in need of tending to! Tonight will be a night unlike any other the Underground has ever witnessed! You just watch!"

"Yeah!!"

And so, Blue and Chara trailed along behind the cheery ghost, listening to his outrageously ambitious descriptions of a promising future.

They left a sparkling light behind them on the ground.

_______

 

The stage was set. Blue peeked out from the tapestry Napstablook had salvaged into a curtain. The troupe sent out freshly laminated concert ads, and Blue attempted to count the audience with her hands. The result was two pairs of crossed fingers on her left hand and peace sign with two extra fingers extended on her right. She wasn't sure if she had counted the dog monsters correctly, but it wasn't a bad turnout for a first show. Napstablook had really thought of everything, the stage was even positioned in front of the pond so the aquatic monsters could have a decent seat. They all chatted eagerly amongst themselves. Blue gulped.

"Are you nervous?"

Blue pulled back from the tapestry as Napstablook did a last check over the speakers. "It's ok. Me too..."

"Nervous?!" Mettaton burst forth, literally appearing from thin air. He sported a feathered boa that glowed a deep ectoplasmic fuchsia. "Why, we don't know the meaning of the word, do we?"

Blue did her best to smile, but she was really bad at faking. Mettaton saw through her facade immediately.

"Well do you have something to say? Come on and spit it out before the show starts."

Blue scuffed her ballet shoe against the platform and became uncharacteristically quiet. "What if they just came to laugh at me...?"

"Then I'd haunt them for every waking second of the rest of their miserable lives," Mettaton tsked. "I mean seriously, what even made you think that?"

"The other dancers--"

"Yes, yes. I overheard that little excerpt earlier. It was no place for you, so you moved on and found yourself here. So let me tell you a little secret- we’re not here to try and impress anyone.”

Blue tilted her head in confusion. “But… isn’t that the point?”

“Not at all!” Mettaton tossed his head back, ruffling his boa. “ No. The point is that you’ve got a _burning_ passion to dance- so hot that you cannot contain it even if you tried. Whenever you dance I can see it plain on your face. It is very much a part of you, darling.”

“But if it’s not perfect no one’s going to want to see it. It’s not wanted-“

“It _is_ perfect. It is perfect because in this world true perfection is found through change. You have legs- think of when you first started to walk. It’s because you knew the discomfort of crawling around on the ground that you were able to appreciate the glamor of standing. Even if standing and walking on your own is nothing new to the world, it was a new and thrilling experience to you. What matters is that it means something to _you_. That’s the kind of passion that reaches people. Understand?”

Blue looked dizzy trying to wrap her mind around this. Which was bad considering she hadn’t even done a single pirouette yet. But she quickly blinked the confusion away, and nodded with an adamant grin.

“That’s the spirit! Now, put your hood up over your face and let’s get this show rolling!”

Napstablook dimmed the lights until all that could be seen was the pitch black of a Waterfall evening. The expectant audience buzzed with excited whispers from the other side of the curtain. A feathered boa, set of headphones, and a ruffled tutu lit up in the darkness along with the rest of the glow in the dark paint used to decorate the stage. Blue could only just make out Chara's transparent figure separating from her.

"Aren't you going to dance with me?"

_'Nah, this is your show. Do your thing, I'll watch from above.'_

"Chara," Blue called out before Chara could fly out of sight. She offered for them to take her hand. "Come dance with me."

It wasn't that Chara wasn't flattered by the invitation, but they wouldn't be able to watch for threats if they were spinning around on stage. From above they would have a decent vantage point while still keeping out of sight of the ghosts.  
They couldn't afford to let their guard down for even a second. They couldn't afford to screw things up again. They turned Blue’s offer down.

"If you say so. But just remember- you're every bit of a miraculous superstar as I am!!~" She made a heart with her hands and emphasized it with a smile.

_'Heheh... Got it.'_

Chara floated up to rest on the light fixtures above. They really need to stop the whole self-loathing thing. But they couldn't stop themselves from thinking _across all space and time, and out of all the horrible people that could've fallen down here, why did someone like you have to end up with someone like me? If only you had been the one to fall down first. You probably wouldn't messed things up as bad as I did. Asriel would’ve loved you._

Fortunately, their self-loathing was cut off by cheers and hollers at the rise of the curtain. Lights in pinks, purples, and blues splashed over the walls and waterfall mist, setting the stage for a beautiful dancehall. Waterfall never looked so lively.

Napstablook fired up some unknown genre of music that floated and pulsed to Chara's ears. It started out soft and jazzy- blue as Neptune. But then the halls were dyed in deep magenta, and the melody flared up into a classy sort of hip-hop. Blue and Mettaton hummed along while spinning about the stage. There were no lyrics to the song, but wordless songs reach more ears. Chara had to smile at seeing Napstablook's music with Mettaton's dance. Each of Blue's powerful yet delicate moves could only be described as interstellar. She was doing really well.

Chara wiggled their feet along with to the beat and peered down at the audience. Chara didn’t recognize any of them, but they all seemed to be enjoying the performance. They wouldn’t be a threat for the time being. What Chara needed to keep an eye on was the stage itself. Napstablook did their best with what they found, but every once and a while something would let out a horrible creak. It was almost completely drowned out by the earthshaking music.

Mettaton’s voice mega-phoned out above all the noise as Blue retreated to the back of the stage to prepare a flip. “That’s it, darling! Show everyone that stars don’t need wings to fly!”

She built up velocity and padded across the floor.

The beams groaned above.

Her feet sprung off the ground and several bolts and screws came loose.

She twirled in the air, but Chara pushing her out of the way of the fallen beam disrupted her landing. She stumbled several steps backwards before falling down.

The audience turned dead silent, and Napstablook screeched the music to a stop. They immediately floated on the brink of tears. “I… I’m sorry! I’m the one who set up the stage. This is all my fault…”

“…Don’t worry about it. I know you didn’t do it on purpose.” Blue curled her hands into fists and hung her head to that her hood hid her face. “So was that it then…?”

“Hey!” Blue, Napstablook, Chara, and the entirety of the audience all turned their heads to look at Mettaton. The beam had fallen right on top of him and smashed through the stage floor, but he phased through it like it was nothing. “We aren’t finished yet! If you make a mistake you OWN it, darlings- don’t let it own you!!”

Everyone stared at the disheveled ghost.

Then, someone in the audience started to clap.

Then another monster joined in.

Before long the entire audience was cheering. They really wanted the show to continue. A radiant glow spread over Blue’s face, and she hopped back to her feet. Napstablook blushed madly and returned to the turntables.

“And you there!” Mettaton flicked his boa at Chara, who suddenly felt like they had been caught with their hand in a cookie jar. “Whoever you are you’re on stage! Don’t jut float there- dance!”

 _’Wha--? Hold on a second!’_ Blue took Chara’s hand and tugged them along to a part of the stage that hadn’t been destroyed. _’N-no! I told you I can’t dance.’_

“Are you blushing? You don’t have to be embarrassed. We’re the only ones who can see you, silly!”

_’I’m ALWAYS blushing! Why do I have to d—look out!’_

Chara took Blue by the hand and swiveled her out of the way of a second falling beam. They ended up dipping her.

“See? You can do it! You practiced the dance with me after all.” Blue stood arabesque and continued to dance.

_’Aren’t you at all concerned for your safety? I wasn’t even paying attention to the dance!’_

“Then just do what comes naturally.~”

The only reason Chara was still on stage was because there were still several beams still creaking overhead. They tried to shield their eyes from the blinding stage lights, but it passed right through their hand. They knew the audience wasn’t looking at them, but their stomach fluttered regardless. They didn’t even _know_ any dance moves! They took a hesitant step forward, then sidestepped to the rhythm of the music. Somehow, even though Chara, Blue, and Mettaton’s dance styles were completely different, they all went along with Napstablook’s music. Blue pirouetted near, and Chara twisted and twirled along with her. The finale would be coming up next, and Napstablook had something special prepared.

The musical ghost flipped a switch and one of the remaining lights switched on overhead. It sent out a projection of the night sky in a spectacular lightshow! The audience awed as the ‘real’ sky bounced and swirled around on the crystalized ceiling. Chara, too, had stopped to stare. They were reminded of when they would sneak out to the woods on the surface to witness the brilliant lights. The nostalgia of serene starlight swirling above them filled them with determination.

They felt like doing something spontaneous.

The music grew towards the climax, and Chara placed their hands to the floor and kicked their legs around them like a spinning windmill. They were spinning, the lights were spinning, and Blue was spinning on her tiptoes. The waterfall wind whipped around them and filled the atmosphere with life.

But with their eyes watching the ground, Chara could see the floor beginning to split apart. Blue noticed too, and rushed over to Chara with a grand leap. Chara reached their arms out to her and slowed her fall as the floor gave way.

The whole stage collapsed beneath them, and the last of the beams crashed down. Chara struggled to hold Blue above them. It seemed they couldn’t hold her up for very long, and she began to sink through their hands. It must’ve been quite a spectacle for the audience to see her ‘levitate’ like that.

Chara let Blue down easy on the last remaining bit of stage. The lights at the far back of the stage sparked and burst into flames, and Blue struck a pose to add dramatic effect. The music came to and end and Mettaton ceased his humming to pose dramatically along side her.

The audience erupted in applause. Both ghosts, Blue, and even Chara took a closing bow. Mettaton was completely engrossed by the cheers.

“Thank you! Thank you! Of course, it can only be expected for a star like me to put on such a fabulous show!” He proceeded to blow each and every one of the audience members a kiss.

 _’Guess you really brought down the house, huh?’_ Chara nudged Blue with a genuine smile. But she was squinting at something far off in the crowd. _’Blue?’_

“I see Tori!!”

_’Wha—really? Where?! Does she look mad?’_

“She’s clapping! Let’s go to her.”

Chara took Blue’s hand and helped her down from the scrap of stage and waded through the shifting crowd.

“Everyone’s so tall, I can’t see her! Fly up and tell me which way to go.”

Chara nodded and hovered above the heads of the shambling monsters. _’She’s just up ahead. I think if you just go straight— Hold on, I can’t see you anymore. Which way are you facing?’_

Chara desceded back into the crowd and looked around. Blue was nowhere to be seen.

 _’Blue?’_ Chara called out.

No response.

Chara had begun to feel a chill spread up their fingertips and into their arms. She was getting farther away.

Chara zipped around wildly, trying not to panic. Whenever they felt a sharp drop in their body temperature they turned around to head in the right direction. It was the most stressful game of hot and cold they had ever played.

 _’BLUE!’_ They cried out at the top of their lungs. They phased through the monsters of the crowd, no longer bothering to go around them. They weren’t expecting to run into someone.

“HEY, WATCH IT! Seriously, I didn’t ASK for my yard to be flooded by strangers! What makes you think you’re welcome here? UNFORGIVABLE!!”

They had run into a ghost that was neither Mettaton _nor_ Napstablook. They stared down at Chara with a menacing glare, and Chara quickly recognized him as the snailsman from earlier.

“Wha? What’re YOU supposed to be? A human?!”

Surrounding monsters turned their heads at the taboo word.

“What’d that ghost say?”

“Human? Where?”

“I don’t see anything.”

Chara had to find Blue.

Fast.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Most gladly therefore I will rather glory in my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may rest on me." 2nd Corinthians 12:9 (WEB)
> 
> Up Next: ...


	15. Are You a Star?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things are looking grim for Blue and Chara.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been pretty swamped with work, but I think this turned out well. Word of warning, this is a bit of a heavy chapter.

A forest of shuffling feet bustled around in search of what they could not see. And what they could not see was left curled and shivering against the earthy floor. _Someone_ had been searching for nearly fifteen minutes before the cold became too much. Before, they were hardly able to feel a thing. Now, all there was to feel was the shock of solidifying like ice. It hurt to move, and they became desensitized to their environment.

They could not move.

They could not speak.

A pink ghost briefly blurred into focus. He twisted in all directions, searching for something just like everyone else.

He passed.

Not even the ghosts could see them now.

They felt like they were falling.

They could not remember where they were.

They could not remember who they were.

Their eyelids got heavy.

Another moment, and they would forget why they were there.

They could not allow that.

They lay there, and refused to vanish.

________

 

What to do, what to do??

Blue couldn't call out Chara's name- they had been rather strict about keeping it secret. And now the monsters were scrambling all over the place, making it very difficult to see someone who was already transparent.

What a predicament!

At least she could see that she had indeed miscounted the dogs- there were two sharing the same suit of armor. In fact, an entire horde of armor-wearing monsters had arrived. The sniffed the air expectantly. Shame, they just missed the show. If the stage wasn't in pieces she might've been able to do an encore.

"FAILURES! It was right! There! What! What!! Whaaat!!! If you can't see or smell it then fire off your magic attacks until it appears!"

Well that didn't sound safe. Was Chara over there? Blue only took two steps forward before she felt herself being swept off the ground by a strong set of arms.

It smelled of clean linen and damp fur. A sweet, homey scent.

"There you are!" breathed a weary voice.

Blue looked up from the unexpected embrace and at the woman holding her. "Tori!!"

Toriel's eyes were wide and reddened, looking over the child over for any bumps or scratches. "Come now, they have discovered who you are! We must leave at once." She took Blue by the hand and led her from the chaos.

How could they have seen her face to find out she was human? Chara had her tape her hood down over her face that it would stay on while dancing! Not even the rude snailsman would've been able to see. But if he was a ghost then there was chance that the person he saw had been not Blue, but Chara.

"I believe I have found someone who has seen my other children," Toriel continued. "A monster was wearing similar clothing to one of them, and he said that he purchased them from the shop in Snowdin. We shall head there next, and then I will drop you off at the Ruins."

"Err… Hold on a second, Tori. I think I forgot something over by the stage." Blue needed Chara to be there with her if Toriel was going to find out the what happened to the other kids. This wasn't going to be easy. She tugged herself back in the direction of the crowd.

Toriel's grip tightened, unmoving. "I am sure whatever you have lost is not worth the danger. Come with me."

"It's... actually I need to say goodbye to my friends. It's _really_ important to me." That wasn't a complete lie- she still had to say goodbye to Mettaton and Napstablook.

Toriel shook her head and continued to walk. "My child, it is _too dangerous_. I am sure they will understand."

Blue tugged harder. "I don't know how to tell you this, but someone might get hurt if I don't go back!"

Toriel came to a halt, growing darkly silent. She enclosed Blue's tiny hand in her massive paw. She took a breath, and exhaled slowly.

She faced Blue with the same expression she wore when destroying the spare room.

"I have already decided. It does not matter the cost. I will do whatever it takes so long as it keeps my children safe." Toriel did her best to hold eye contact, but Blue's look of shock made her fierce glare soften into a sad smile. "I... I cannot bear even the possibility of you being in danger... I promise it is for the best. Please forgive me."

Toriel scooped Blue up into her arms and held her there. No matter how much Blue struggled, she could not get free. No matter what she said to Toriel, she kept walking. Blue begged for her to turn back. Tears fell from the woman's cheeks, but she would not heed her request. Blue went limp in Toriel's arms.

There was only one thing Blue could do now.

She had made a promise to stay with Toriel on this trip...

But promise or no promise, Blue couldn't leave Chara behind.

"Tori..." She whispered softly through the echoing caverns, leaning into Toriel's soft fur.

"I'm sorry."

With one last goodbye, Blue reset to the save point by the stage.

_______

 

Their eyelids got heavy.

The environment flickered for a moment. Then it lurched away completely.

Chara took in a heavy breath of air, filling their lungs, not because they needed oxygen, but to clear their head and latch back on to reality. They put a hand to their warming chest and scanned the horizons of the cavern. They spotted Mettaton drifting near, and ducked behind a nearby monster.

This had already happened. Blue reset time on her own.

The scene lurched again, and Chara watched it sweep back to the point when they had first lost Blue. She must have set off the save point when she saw Toriel. Now she was invoking multiple resets.

She must be danger.

Chara flinched, not seeing Mettaton pass by again until he was so close that Chara could have reached out and touched him. They couldn't trust anyone- even if they wanted to. They would find Blue first.

With their regained spark of energy, they flew up high for a bird’s eye view. They checked left side of the stage last time, so now they would check the right.

_'BLUE!!'_

There was no telling where Blue would go in this timeline, leaving Chara to rely on the inconsistent chill that pulsed around them, waiting to consume their being once more.

Cold.

Colder.

Cool.

Warm.

They almost missed it, but something like neon blipped into sight from behind the shifting crowd. Chara approached the spot where the glow had emitted. Then, they heard a cry sing out over the noise of shuffling feet.

"Bob? Bob??"

Chara zipped down into the crowd and alighted next to the girl covered in glow in the dark ink. They took her hand in theirs, glancing over their shoulder to ensure that there was no danger to flee from.

"Oh! Found you!!" To Chara's surprise, Blue didn't seem worried in the slightest, drawing them into a hug with a little bounce of excitement. "Gosh, Chara. Don't you know you're supposed to stay where you are when you get lost? I might've found you sooner if you hadn't run off like that."

_'Find ME?! I'm pretty sure I was the one doing the finding.'_ Chara jabbed an index finger at Blues forehead.

"Ow!"

Blue rubbed at her head, but was her turn to be surprised when Chara wrapped their arms around her in a ghostly embrace. _'Don't ever scare me like that again, idiot.'_

Chara released Blue, finding that they were able to move with ease. It felt like they had just awoken after a good nights rest. _'Let's get the heck out of this ghost town, huh?'_

"Right! Tori went that way, but I had to avoid bumping into her before I found you. We can probably still catch up to--"

"Calm down? CALM. DOWN?!"

The mad snailsghost was fuming at the guard dogs, gesturing in Chara's direction.

"WHY would I calm down when you mutts can't even do your freakin’ job?! IT'S RIGHT THERE NEXT TO THE SHRIMP IN THE HOOD!"

The dogs flattened their ears at the ghost's volume, and exchanged exasperated looks. None of them advanced towards Chara and Blue, but the ghost threw a nasty glare their way.

"Ugh- Whatever! Whatever!! WHATEVER!! I don't need to rely on your feeble assistance!" The ghost summoned a flurry of dagger-shaped bullets and sent them flying. Off guard, Blue staggered back, a bullet catching the edge of her hood and peeling it away to reveal her face. The dogs went stiff as boards.

_Run?_

_'Run.'_

_Wait! What about Tori? Can't we just reset and try again?_

_'And risk getting stuck in a loop? No.'_ Chara reunited with Blue and ran through the dark, winding halls. _'You'll be safer if we lay low somewhere back here. We'll meet back up with Toriel once it's safe.'_

Blue lowered her head, but nodded in agreement. She ran until she could duck safely behind a bushel of babbling echo flowers.

_______

 

An indiscernible amount of time had passed.

The echo flowers were a great cover, scaring off the band of pursuers with their incessant gibberish. The guards ceased their search of the area prematurely.

Finally, Blue crawled out from her hiding place to stretch her aching limbs. She had been crouched under there for so long! But now it was safe to venture out. She was careful not send splashes through the water as she tiptoed down the hall. She was planning to walk back towards Mettaton's house before hearing the howling of the guards pick up again. The area was under investigation. If she went back that way she would surely be caught.

_'We'll have find another way. I thought we might be able to use the geysers, but it looks like the water's really low now... I don't remember these plaques being here either.'_

_Let alone having a prophecy._

The landscape had changed so much since the last time Chara had passed through these corridors that there might be a new way back to upper Waterfall they didn’t know about. Whether there was one or not, searching for one further down the hall would be safer than waiting out in an area under surveillance. Besides, they’d had to run through these halls over and over the last time they’d been caught in a loop. Getting lost in the mazes wouldn’t be a problem.

That is, it wouldn’t have been a problem if someone hadn’t taken the lanterns. The lanterns were supposed to be scattered about the next two rooms since some monsters didn’t have luminescent magic, but the ones from this room were gone! Now that Chara thought about it, there was something familiar about the way the stage lights flickered on and off. The only light left to guide Blue’s footsteps was the glowing ink splattered on her clothes.

 

_’Left.’_

“Going left!~ Now what?”

_’Uhh. Maybe right?’_

“Going—“

_*SPLASH*--_

“Gahh!! It’s all water! I can’t swim very well, Chara…”

 

_’Sorry, sorry! I think it’s uh… that way?’_

“Oh! I think that’s it! I see a light up ahead!!”

_’Hold on a sec, something doesn’t feel right..’_

Blue rounded the corner and Chara knew that they had made a terrible mistake.

“hOI!!!”

_’No,’_ Chara whispered and locked eyes with the half-canine half-feline monster staring up at Blue.

“i’m tEMMIE!! human… such a CUTE!!”

Blue gasped and pressed her hands to her cheeks. “Really? You think I’m cute??”

_’Please just walk away from it.’_

“yaYA!! awwAWA!!! (pets you)” The over-energized monster stretched out a paw and patted Blue on the face.

_’Don’t let her pet you! I’m allergic!’_

“Well I feel fine. Hey, maybe we can ask for directions? Do you know another way to Snowdin?”

_’She knows your human! How do we know she won’t try to kill us?’_

The Temmie’s entire face broke off and floated there, right in front of Chara’s. “tem has VERY good reason to trust tem!”

_’…’_

“…”

“So you’ll help us, then?”

“yaYA!!!! tem kno… ALL da shortcut!! fhsdhjfdsfjsddshjfsd!!!!” Temmie vibrated further into the room, leaving her face behind. There was another temmie waiting over by a hole the wall.

“Hi,” said the new temmie. “I’m Bob.”

_______

 

Turns out that Bob dug a tunnel all the way to the top of Waterfall, leading to paths unrecognizable to Chara. Even so, they were relieved that the monsters hadn’t come along with them, and Blue and Chara traversed the heights of Waterfall on their own. Now that they were paying attention to it, the change in water level had affected the environment more drastically than they had thought. Bridges that had previously crossed the water now led to dead ends, and were blocked off by fallen rocks. And there were plaques depicting the war _everywhere_. After hours of walking, Chara spotted a particularly personal row of plaques. The plaque on the far end of the mossy boardwalk depicted not words, but an illustration of a horned monster with dark streaks across its face. Chara was thankful that Blue didn’t show any interest in reading the history of monsterkind.

On the bright side, if there was any chance prophecy of an angel returning from the surface to set monsterkind free was true, then that could mean Blue would eventually escape the barrier. But then there was the word _return_. Meaning she would have to come back. As murderous as the human world was, the monsterworld wasn’t much safer at this point. Chara wouldn’t allow her to return.

Wouldn’t it be funny if the so-called angel turned out to be them somehow?

To be called an angel after all the unforgivable things they've done.

That would be hilarious.

“I’m going to start pirouetting every time you make me make that face,” Blue said pointedly.

Chara snapped to attention, regaining focus on the task at hand. _’I wouldn’t if I were you. Remember, if I throw up, it’ll be with YOUR body.’_

“Ew! Ew!! Nevermind then!” Blue gagged. She came to a stop at a split in the road. “Anyway, I wanted to talk to you about something that’s been bothering me.”

Chara didn’t recognize either path and shrugged Blue’s shoulders. _’Shoot.’_

“Did it hurt them? …When I turned that monster to dust?”

Chara kept quiet, thinking over their words carefully. As oblivious as Blue could be, she wasn't stupid. Of course she would want to know what happened to the Loox she dusted. Epecially after learning that monsters are people just like humans. It wouldn’t be like telling a kid that their fish died because it was out of water. They would be telling Blue that she had killed a person without even giving it a thought.

_’No. You didn’t hurt them.’_

“Chara.” She was bunching up her tutu in her fists, staring at the traces of dust mixing with glitter. “Are you sure?”

She didn’t need to know. It would be bad for her morale to take a nosedive when she was still out in the open like this. Save points were popping up all over the place, and Chara needed to keep Blue’s willpower strong. Everyone has his or her own perception of truth, anyway. It’s better just to ignore the bad times and do what you want with life. _’Sure I’m sure! After a while most of the dust reforms back into the monster, like stunning it.’_

Blue squinted off in both directions. They looked about the same length-wise. “Okay. If you’re absolutely-positively-one-hundred-percent sure in saying not to worry, then I’ll believe you. Sorry for making fun of your face.” She paused before adding, “And… if you ever want to talk about what happened with the other children, I’ll listen!~”

Chara felt guilt gnawing away at them from the inside. They detached themselves from Blue to hover alongside her, trying to keep the feeling hidden. _’Thanks…’_

“THERE IT IS!!”

The hair on the back of the children’s necks stood straight out, and they ran in a random direction without looking to see who had called out at them.

Some of the faster monsters caught up quickly.

But they didn’t withstand more than a few of Blue’s kicks.

Blue’s skirt collected even more dust as she ran from the stronger, but slower monsters.

She ran.

And ran.

And ran.

_______

 

They gained enough distance to duck in cover, the pitch-black Waterfall night shrouding her away. She crouched exhausted in a clump of sea-grass, out of breath, but with minor injuries. Chara kept watch as best they could in the darkness. The few feet they could see ahead of them were clear, so they were safe for the time being.

“I don’t know if I can keep on running like this, Chara.”

_’It’s okay, we’re taking a break now. But you’ll need to be ready to run if all your crazed fans decide to show up again.’_

“I’m sore all over…”

_’Where does it hurt the most?’_

Blue pointed to a small bump on her head from where she had been hit with a weak blast of magic. Chara floated close, remembering what Toriel sometimes did whenever they or Asriel got hurt. _’Did you know you can blow the pain away? The wind sweeps it off like dandelion fluff’_ Blue’s eyes twinkled in wonder, shaking her head that she had never heard of this kind of healing before. _’It works like this.’_ Chara leaned in and blew gently on Blue’s forehead. It was no healing item, but it was the best they could do right now. Blue rubbed her forehead and giggled.

Chara smiled, but it was too dark for Blue to see.

The moment was ruined by the sound of nearby rustling.

_’We should get moving. Crawl outta there.’_

“Chara…” Blue whispered as low as she could. “I don’t think I can stand.”

_’I know you’re tired, but we have to do this… Here, I’ll help.’_

Chara re-fused with Blue only to find that her legs were being held in place.

Something had her.

Chara jerked and kicked to fend off the unseen attacker.

They hit something solid.

_*Squeak*_

The ground around them lit up in the light blue glow of a bioluminescent mushroom. It revealed the ribbons of Blue’s ballet shoes, caught and tangled in spindly fingers of sea-grass. What’s more, the combined noise of the struggle and light from the mushroom gave away their position to a group of distant onlookers.

The howling and snarling grew louder with each second.

_’ShootShootShoot!!’_

Chara fumbled with the knots and bows, but they wouldn’t give! The band of monsters was in sight, and Chara yanked Blue free, leaving the ballet slippers behind.

But the bioluminescence also revealed that they were surrounded by cliffs on three sides, leaving the only path blocked by a mob of monsters. They were penned in.

“We can’t fight all of them!!”

_’I can see that. It’s a good thing you’re a great jumper.’_

“I can’t jump over _all_ of them—let alone run anymore!”

_’We’re not going to.’_

Bare feet padded across the briny floor over to the towering cliffs. Blue’s knees bent, her arms swung, and Chara materialized to heave her upward with the short duration of connection time their body could have with hers.

She just barely clasped the edge of the cliff, narrowly dodging the gnashing teeth and claws of monsters below.

She pulled herself up, gasping on the ledge.

Chara re-joined with her to help move her tired body. They scaled the cliff together.

Reaching the top, the monsters below ran off to find another way up, and Chara propelled Blue forward. They ran, and climbed as far as they could go.

After some time, they were unable to climb any higher. This was the very top of waterfall, where water spilled in from some unseen body on the surface into the dark depths of the Underground. The monsters would not be able to follow them up here, no sane person would ever come here. Even wings would be barred from entry by the crashing walls of falling water. The only source of life was the occasional Echo Flower, and they were all strangely silent.

Blue collapsed.

“Chara, I can’t run any longer… I need to rest…”

Chara stared at the small hands lying limp on the floor in front of them. They had managed to get her away from the monsters by taking control, but the strain on her tiny body remained no matter who was in control. Her hands and feet were raw from the climb. Everything stung. How long would they have to rest to be able to make it back down? She didn’t have any food to recover her strength, either. They took a moment to lie perfectly still, helping her focus on her breathing.

_’In… Out… In... Out… H-hey, come on. Try to focus! Focus on anything at all. Uh… Where was the last save point you saw?’_

“Think I saw one just over there by the water…” She flopped a hand in the direction of a cluster of pools. “I’m not feeling so good, Chara…”

_’I know, I know! Just… take it easy- I’ll figure this out!’_

“I believe you…”

She closed her eyes, willing herself to sleep it off.

Chara frantically searched the area for anything- anything at all that might help. But there was nothing atop the lonely cliff. They came up empty, glancing at Blue sleeping vulnerable on the cold ground. Chara needed a plan, or Blue would never make down the cliffs without attracting attention. The nearest safe place they knew of was the inn at Snowdin, and she wouldn’t be able to just limp through town now that it was heavily populated. Word of her presence may have already reached the town by now.

Would Chara fail again?

No. No, this time would be different. They were going to protect her! They just needed to get help! There had to be _someone_ out there who could help.

Borrowing Blue’s voice, Chara called out for help.

They called out for anyone they knew who wouldn’t immediately kill them: Toriel, the inn keeper, the river person, Mettaton, Napstablook, even the Temmies!

They counted a full sixty seconds before calling out again.

And again.

And again.

They slumped next to Blue and stared into the distance.

“Somebody… anybody….”

“Chara..?”

_’Ah. Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you.’_

“Chara, I see someone.”

A tall figure was approaching from behind a waterfall, their identity distorted by the rapids.

_What…?_

_Had someone actually followed them up here?_

_And being that tall…_

“Tor—“

The figure emerged.

It was not Toriel.

He had two eyes.

One colored orange.

The other cyan.

And both had a newly formed crack splitting out from them.

"Well you've certainly picked quite the hideout, haven't you?"

Gaster's newly acquired eyes were trained on the fallen child.

"Curious... You do not appear to match the witness's description."

_No... no way._

_How could he have known they'd be here? And WHY did his face look like that?!_

"H-Hello..." Blue squeaked, pulling herself into a sitting position.

_You know him? Is he bad??_

_'He won't do anything- he's all talk! Don't listen to whatever lies he has to say!'_

Gaster approached, stretching out a bony hand. Blue recoiled somewhat, but didn't have the energy to do more than necessary.

"Let us see just how much trouble you've caused."

With eyes blazing and a snap of his fingers, the night-blue soul was forced into being. Blue flinched at its sudden apparition. Gaster brought the heart to eye level, no longer needing a machine to see what secrets the soul tried to hide. Whatever he saw, his expression remained callous.

"With the number deaths you've caused, I'd have expected your subtrait to be at least marginally less of a disappointment than the last two. Can you imagine what a fool I looked like? Seeking to uncover the determination trait, only to find _kindness_ of all things? And then, justice- and now, perseverance." He knelt down to meet Blue with a cold glare. "So tell me then. Why is it that you are able to activate the save points?"

Blue was trying to process what he meant by 'deaths', but shook it off. They trusted Chara, and Chara had said that this man was a liar. "I don't understand. What is determination?"

Gaster’s frown turned sour at the girl’s naïve question. "To think that such a power lies in the hands of insolent children! As polarizing as your traits may seem, you are all equally feebleminded!” He glowered at Blue, growing quiet. Then, he straightened himself, regaining his calculated demeanor, and turned his attention back to her soul. “Well, there is another oddity that each of you possess…” He turned the soul over in hand, eyes casting over it like searchlights.

The conflicting cyan and orange lights enveloped the soul, turning it pale, and Chara realized something about the soul that they hadn’t noticed before.

Nearly invisible to the naked eye was a web of fracture lines, as if the heart had been shattered and glued back together like pottery.

“Fall damage,” Gaster clarified. “Each of your souls has suffered, broken, and been repaired after falling from a great height- presumably at the entrance of the Ruins. No human without determination should be able to survive a fall like that… Fascinating, isn’t it?” Gaster took a step toward Blue and smiled, eyes flickering.

“I’d like to see it for myself.”

A slew of orange bullets blasted the ground where Blue once sat, hurtling bits of rock over the edge of the falls.

Blue slumped just outside the radius of the blast, eyes burning red.

“B-back off! You stay away!!”

Gaster’s smile contorted. He was not looking at Blue. Instead his eyes bored into the cracks of the soul. It shone red.

“Ah. Right in front of me this whole time… That is one question answered. But I cannot say that I haven’t seen this specific signature before. So that leads to my next question… If a monster absorbs a human soul and turns to dust, what happens to the soul?”

He knew.

He knew Chara was there!

Chara staggered to keep Blue upright. They had to be strong. It didn’t matter if he knew. “Those eyes don’t belong to you!”

“And that body doesn’t belong to _you_ , Chara.” He spoke their name perfectly. “I warned you to take care of yourself. No look at what you’ve done.” He gestured to the wet dust that clotted Blue’s tutu. “Every holder of determination meets the same fate. The resets start out innocent enough- retake a test, retry a bad day. Then the greed sets in. The people around you don’t matter anymore. All that matters is the desired outcome… Tell me, did you enjoy killing those people?

“ **You** did this to me!”

“I have done nothing.”

“You sent people out to kill me! You put me through hell! You told me to get rid of myself! **You’re the reason Asriel, Cyan, and Orange were killed!** ”

Gaster threw back his head in a raspy fit of laughter. “If anyone attacked you it was not by my order. I seems I wasn’t the only one who saw you for what you were- an obstacle to our freedom. As for the rest, that was to the fault of you and the king, wouldn’t you agree? I warned you not to be a burden.”

“ **LIAR!** Don’t you _dare_ turn this on me! You attacked Blue just to see what would happen!”

“I am in my right, and working fully within the law. Not only must every human die, but this one is a murderer at that.” His eyelights bobbed and flickered in his skull. “If the king won’t do what is right for his people, and the guards let humans waltz into the castle like party guests, who better to enforce the law than the Royal Scientist? Not that the humans put up much of a fight in the end—“

“SCREW YOU! Orange slipped right out from under your nose! You couldn’t stop him either, hypocrite!”

“Oh, please. He was a weakling. Had I known you were there I would have killed him too… Shall I demonstrate?” Gaster thrust out his hand.

Chara leapt to the side to dodge any harm that would come, but no bullets were summoned. Their body felt like an iron weight, and they sunk to their knees.

Gaster approached with his hand outstretched, coat trailing behind him in the brackish water. He pointed his palm downward, and Chara felt themselves being pressed into the ground. The closer his hand came to the ground, the harder it was to stand.

_Chara? I’m scared. I don’t want to be here anymore!_

_’I know, I know! Just stay determined. Hold on--’_

Gaster flicked his hand, and gravity sent Blue crashing into the rocks.

Chara absorbed the brunt of the impact and reset.

They tried to run, but Gaster had been waiting, hidden near the save point the whole time.

“Such an expression… Have you already reset?”

Chara spun out into a pirouette, spraying water and kicking up the murk, but they were unable to land a hit on Gaster before a pair of aqua hands wrapped themselves around Blue’s ankles, pinning her in place.

“I can see right through you, Chara. Your determination will be your undoing. I wonder… If one becomes unable to reset after their will is broken, how then did the prince end up dead? Will you break this one too?”

“STOP IT! STOP IT!! I’ll take all the pain-- all of it! She won’t give up!”

“But she’ll be forcing the both of you to endure this moment, over and over. Are you so convinced that that is what she wants?”

Chara glared and gritted their teeth, but tears rolled down Blue’s cheeks. “I’ll come back! I’ll stop you! I’ll outlive you! You aren’t going to hurt anyone else ever again!”

“Ah, but the only killer here is you. And who can possibly outlive a boss monster? You are an abomination. There is only one way to redeem yourself. You will _continue_ to awaken, you will _continue_ to bring humans out of the Ruins, and you will _continue_ to die until I have seven souls ripe for absorbing.”

There was a sound, like Gaster had summoned something, but Chara couldn’t see past the blurr of Blue’s tears.

“Please don’t take her away. Give them back! They don’t deserve this!”

There was a brief moment of silence.

Then Gaster leaned in to speak into Blue’s ear.

“Do as I say, and your next death might even be painless.”

There was a loud noise, a flash of light, and the sensation of falling.

Chara kept their word.

She didn’t feel a thing.

 

_______

 

“Where oh where could that child be….?”

“I’ve been looking all over for her…”

**[FILE ERASED]**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Far be it from me that I should justify you. Until I die I will not put away my integrity from me." Job 27: 5 (WEB)
> 
> Each time I write it's like "Yes! I've written a thing" then I post it and it's more like "What have I done? Everyone will hate it. Everyone will hate me. I'll have to hide in shame". So then I try and write better for the next chapter and the cycle repeats...
> 
> It's a good thing I like writing.
> 
> Up Next: Things get even uglier somehow


	16. It's Not That I'm So Smart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No more messing around.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah! Punch those finals in the face! (Or at least try to ^_^;)
> 
> I'm taking a small break, so don't expect to see much until January. However, I MIGHT try working on a smaller story that doesn't involve murdering children. See you all next year! : )

Chara woke up, though they weren't feeling very determined.

He woke up, seeing nothing but a blur of petals and snow.

He squinted to bring the flowers into focus. Where were his...? He patted the ground around him until his fingers grazed the cool metal. He picked up his glasses and set them back on the ridge of his nose, exhaling in annoyance. The frame was bent.

Good start.

He held the frame up to the light to try and bend them back into a comfortable shape, and peered at the hole where the snowfall drifted downward. He could see where his rope had snapped—it was tangled up in those sharp rocks. There went his plan of escape.

Well, the cave still went on further. There must be _some_ way out.

He pulled his notebook out from his pocket and flipped to a blank page. He clicked the pen in his ink-stained hand and began to write.

[UNDERWORLD EXPEDITION ENTRY 1]

_______

 

_Underworld, huh?_

_A fitting title._

_A special hell for those like me._

His soul turned out to be purple. The Loox that attacked was met with an immediate retaliation. Purple fought to defend himself, as any sensible person would do. The monster turned to dust.

Not that it even mattered at this point.

The requirement to leave the body was met, and Chara emerged.

There was something they wanted to try.

Purple flinched at the sudden apparition, but observed in silence, waiting for Chara to make the first move.

 _'Greetings,'_ Chara glanced over the orchid soul, barely visible against the walls of the Ruins. Now that they knew what to look for, they could see the faint fracture lines spread across the heart. They frowned, but carried on. _'I am Chara. I am here to guide you through the Ruins.'_

He remained speechless, considering his next move. Grasping his notebook close to his chest, he reached out and jabbed his pen through Chara’s middle.

_’Kind of rude to stick things into a person you’ve only just met, isn’t it?'_

Registering that Chara was addressing him, and was, indeed, sentient, he scrambled backwards and fell on his rear.

"W... What are you?"

 _'I told you. I'm here to guide you.'_ They rolled their eyes.

"No. That explains your objective." He got up and dusted off his slacks. "Some kind of ghost I'm guessing?"

Something like that.

_'Look, all you need to know is that you've fallen into an incredibly dangerous cavern. I'm like the way I am now because I died trying to leave. I've been through this place time and time again. If you want a better chance at surviving, you'll stick with me.'_

Not that you have a choice.

"So it's like some kind of RPG dungeon?" He flipped the notebook to entry one and scrawled out a few notes. "That explains the puzzles and enemies. Can you tell me anything about the lore of this place?"

_'Um, hello?? Did the 'incredibly dangerous' part just fly over your head? Don't tell me you came here to sightsee.'_

"Absolutely not!" he defended. "This is a very serious expedition. I need to record as much as I can for the kids at school. Even the _adults_ started saying that monsters don't exist. Can you believe that?" He rummaged through his jacket and produced... some kind of rectangular device. It lit up at his touch, and flashed like a camera when pointed at Chara. "I’m not that dumb, though. Looks like I was right!"

So the humans buried the monsters alive, and they've already deemed them non-existent. How much time had passed since humanity has seen a monster?

Purple chewed the end of the pen before snapping a picture of one of the puzzles. "What I don't get is why no one bothered to investigate this place before. There's so much legend surrounding this mountain... Well I guess it could be the crappy wifi. My phone is useless as far as Internet and calls go."

...That thing was supposed to be a phone? Wifi??

Chara didn't have the chance to ask any of these questions. The sound of large paws against stone was approaching. Purple turned pale at the tremors, and glanced around for a place to hide. Toriel would find them soon.

"What is _that_?"

 _'She won't hurt you… but she can't keep you safe, either. '_ Chara stared blankly at the nearing figure of their mother. She was running at them now, wearing the same look of shock as she had with the previous kids. _'She couldn't protect _any_ of us. Don’t bother with her.'_

Purple nodded and held his ground as the woman called out to him. It was the same thing. Fuss over the new kid, check if they're hurt, explain the dangers of the underground. She always held that hopeful smile, too. Or maybe it was desperation. Either way, insanity revolves around fruitless repetition.

"And so," Toriel continued after the briefing, "I will guide you to my home. I will see that you are safe there. You will have plenty to eat, a bed to sleep in, and I can teach you anything you wish to know about the history of the Ruins." She added the last bit, glancing at the notebook hanging open at Purple's side.

He quickly snapped it shut, face turning pink. "Erm... That's okay. I'll be fine on my own. Thank you, though."

"Oh." Toriel's face dropped. "Well... there are a few empty houses in the Ruins that might be to your liking. I can lead you to them if you like."

"I'm more of the exploring type, myself. Really though, thanks for the offer." Purple cautiously stepped around Toriel to the other end of the hall.

Toriel took a step toward him like she wanted to take him by the arm. Instead, she paused, and gave the child a smile. "Very well... Do mind the puzzles, and if you need anything at all, my home is the large house at the very end of the Ruins. If you decide to stop by, I will gladly bake a pie for you. Do you prefer cinnamon or butterscotch?"

"I'm allergic," he evaded, somewhat annoyed by the woman’s persistence. "Maybe some other time."

He exited the hall with a quick wave goodbye.

_'She'll probably threaten all the monsters not to hurt you. Either that or she'll end up following us.'_

"Well she isn't following us right now." Purple craned his neck to look behind him. He almost didn't turn around in time to see the spike puzzle. One misstep and he'd be walking with a hole in his foot. "So I hate to ask, but what killed you? And the others that Toriel didn't protect? I should probably know what I'm up against."

 _'Well if you're going to die, there's one thing you need to know about.'_ Chara materialized to show the path through the puzzle. _'The SAVE point. I don't see any around here right now, but if you activate one, there's a chance you can return to that point after you're killed.'_

"That's... unbelievable!”

 _'Trust me, it's not as helpful as it sounds. Ever had a quick-save go wrong in a video game? That's what they were created for... That's what happened to the last kid.'_ Chara stopped, and stared into the canal of water that drained alongside. _’I lost her… but... you haven't activated a save point yet.'_

"I guess not... I'll just use them in emergencies then. Safer to back track than to get caught like that." Purple took a wobbly step, careful to avoid the spikes. Chara stopped midway through the puzzle, and began to mutter to themselves.

 _'I wonder... if the save point is still valid...'_ They faced Purple head on, their eyes crisp against the circles beneath them. _'I have to at least try... Try to understand if I come back.'_

"...What?"

To his Purple's surprise, Chara's ghostly hands could make solid contact with his body.

He felt the force of the push.

And then he felt the spikes.

_______

 

He woke up, kicking up a blur of petals and snow.

He patted himself all over, frantic to stop the bleeding.

But there was no blood to be found.

"Chara, what the _hell_?!"

Once assured that he was very much alive, he realized that he was back at the start of the cavern. He slouched, stupefied, before whipping out his notebook. The pages were all blank.

_'I didn't mess with your memory... Can you still hear me?'_

Purple gave a slow nod.

 _'I see... So that's it then. She's really gone... I've lost another one.'_ The strange voice lodged in Purple’s head let out a fit of strangled laughter. _'Now... you'll die, too, and there's nothing I can do about it!'_

"You just... killed me? Why?! And why are we back here?!"

_'This spot. We all died at this spot. I was the first, and because of my shared determination, those who fell after me were revived.'_

"So..." Purple cupped the bruised petals in his hands and observed the patch surrounding him. "This is like your grave? And you're telling me that I can come back to life as long as I'm determined enough to continue."

 _’My grave…?’_ Chara glanced down at the flowers. What better place for Toriel to bury them than where it all started? _’Yeah… Yeah, that makes sense.’_

He clicked his pen in deep thought. "Okay. That’s fine. It'll be a pain to keep re-writing everything in the notebook, but with an infinite number of resets, getting through the cave should be easy enough.”

_'Easy...? Idiot. Not every death is so quick, and sometimes I can’t react fast enough to share the pain. You have no idea what coming here has done to you.'_

"Okay, so maybe it won't be _easy_ , but if I get caught in a loop, all I have to do is try different solutions until something works, right?"

_'Its not that simple! You'll end doing a lot of things you regret that stick with you no matter what timeline you're in! Before you know it... you've given up completely. I've seen it over and over by now. You cant possibly understand what it feels like!'_

Purple stuffed his hands in his pockets and shuffled down the hall. "Well maybe it wouldn't be so bad if you didn't go impaling people without warning,” he mumbled under his breath.

Chara appeared in front of him and pushed him backward, glaring with hellish eyes. _'Why don't you shut your mouth. If you're so smart, you should know that it's a pretty dumb idea to piss off something that controls whether you live or die.'_

Purple took a step to the side.

Chara did the same, blocking his way.

Purple walked through them and turned around.

“Well if it's so bad down here, the smart thing to do is leave and tell the military!"

 _'Allow me to make this clear,'_ Chara patronized. _'You. Can't. Leave. There are monsters out there who will hunt you down, and there is one in particular that tracks the save points. If the guards don't get you, he will.'_

Purple ran his fingers through his staticky hair, and paced the width of the hallway. "So what, then? You want me to just give up and die?"

_'...'_

"No... You wouldn't bother telling me all this if you were just going to sit back and watch me get maimed." He tapped his pen on the blank page, scanning Chara for some kind of hint. "From what I can gather so far, you're as stubborn as a mule. Killing someone to try and get a shot at saving someone else? I'm not happy about it, but I came back, right? You tried to give life back to someone who couldn't come back on their own."

Chara said nothing, and Purple nodded that his theory was confirmed. He advanced closer and met their rosy eyes. "You're not the type of person to just give up, are you? Despite all circumstances, you want me to have a winning chance at this. So tell me again- is there really no way to leave this place?"

Chara frowned at Purple, and released exasperated sigh. _'Your soul trait must be 'nosey'. Quit acting like you get where I'm coming from, I'm not buying it.'_ They folded their arms and turned their back to him. _'... There is a way out, but two kids already tried it. Sorry, but I'm not letting anyone kill my parents. Even with the way they are now. They... they're the only ones left who ever showed me any kind of compassion.'_

"What do they have to do with leaving?"

_'My parents are boss monsters. Toriel is one of them. In order for you to cross the barrier you'd need your own soul along with the soul of a...'_

It dawned on Chara that there was a crucial bit of information they had gained from their last life.

The realization struck them like a lighting bolt.

_'He's a boss monster.'_

_'DOCTOR GASTER IS A BOSS MONSTER!'_

Purple felt some kind of energy surge out from Chara. A bright light burst up at the base of the staircase like an overpowered light bulb, and the ground began to rumble. Purple clung to the wall for support against the quake. "Whoa-- Geez! Why is that such a big deal?"

_'The answer's been right in front of me this whole time! I've got NO problem with ripping out HIS soul. We'll take it, leave the Underground, and block off the entrances. I won't ever have to wake up to this nightmare again.'_

Purple smirked and began scribbling furiously. "Fighting monsters, huh? This really is like a video game. Bringing back a monster soul should be proof enough that monsters exist.”

 _'Just a minute,'_ Chara deflated. _'There's one problem. I couldn't land a single hit on the guy when we fought, and... I'll be honest. You're the weakest kid so far. There's no way you can take on a boss monster with two... three human souls. Heh... seriously, Cyan has you beat by a long shot. She always trained pretty hard with Mom...'_ They laughed softly to themselves.

Purple shrugged. "I guess I can try to get stronger, but setting traps is more my style."

_'Then it's settled. We'll--'_

Chara was cut off by Toriel approaching at the speed of a freight train.

Here we go again.

Purple nodded along while the woman rehashed her dialog. He made little effort to interject with anything new, preoccupied with scrawling out what he learned so far. It was hard to concentrate on a battle plan with her repetitive rambling. He tucked the notebook under his arm and heaved a sigh before opening his mouth to inform Toriel of his allergies for the second time.

"Wait, do not tell me," the woman said suddenly and off script. "Are you allergic?"

 _'Sometimes monsters are able to remember small details,’_ Chara said after sensing Purple’s confusion. _’Some people just care too much for their own good.'_

"That is it, is it not? I am sorry. No wonder you are so uninterested. It was wrong of me to make assumptions like that."

"No, it's not your fault. It's just... Listen, Toriel. I'm sure your a very nice... monster lady, but I have somewhere I need to be"

The ends of Toriel's mouth pointed downward. "Somewhere to be? Do you mind if I ask where?"

Purple offered no response, and Toriel took him by the shoulders. She locked eyes with his, her muzzle mere inches away. "I will not force you to stay with me, but please promise you won't... promise me that you will avoid danger as best you can."

Purple nodded, shrugging off Toriel's hands. "You don't have to worry about me. I'm good at avoiding unwanted encounters."

Toriel stared a moment longer before straightening up with a tint of redness to her eyes. "Haha... It must be unusual to you for me to act like this when we have never met before. You are very good to listen to this old woman." She wrinkled her muzzle. "But please do not make a habit of talking to strangers."

"Heh... Well, I think I'd better be going then. Thanks for the advice."

"If you find yourself in any trouble, give me a call so that I may assist you!" she called out and tossed a wrinkled slip of paper.

Purple pocketed it, and gave a final wave before leaving the woman behind for good.

______

 

[UNDER ~~WORLD~~ GROUND EXPEDITION ENTRY 1V2]

[ITEMS and FIGHTING]

-Chara says the other kids got weaker when they lost certain items. More specifically, the items they used to fight. I attempted to replicate this by setting down this notebook during a fight, but I think I actually felt stronger without it. Chara says I should just leave it behind. Like hell I'd do that. I've got like ten poems and a twenty-page fan fiction in here.

-I've left the **Ruin** s. The monsters out here are a little tougher, but I'm strong enough to take them now. Chara was impressed that I knew how to dodge without any kind of training from Toriel. I feel bad about sneaking through her house without asking, but not bad enough to try and find another way to exit the Ruins. That would’ve taken forever. Chara doesn't want to stay near the save points for too long. Or the monsters I beat up. There are save points all over the place, now. Chara thinks the surge of power they felt earlier caused them all to become visible. **Hope** fully it interferes with the tracking.

-I feel weirdly powerful, but I've only been training for a few hours. The weird feeling started after I had dusted a few of the smaller monsters. Sucks for them, but if this really is like a game, what's a little grinding hurt? Aside from the dust clouding up my glasses.

Purple chewed the back of his pen and glanced at the snowy surroundings. He reclined on a fallen tree stump at the edge of the town. The monsters he had fought hadn't recognized him as human, and the townspeople were no different. Even the dogs Chara had warned him about were unable to pick up his scent while he was covered with dust and snow.

After a short period of waiting, the river person arrived.

Purple boarded the vessel with a curt greeting. Their destination was Hotland- the only lead they had on Gaster's whereabouts. Chara had thought it would be beneficial to search for some kind of kryptonite to use against Gaster. What better place to snoop around than the very place he worked? The interchangeable rooms might make it difficult, but any lead they could get on defeating the bad doctor was well worth the effort.

_'He had plenty of opportunities to come after Blue once we left the Ruins, but he waited until we were alone and at our most vulnerable.'_

"So he's crowd shy? What for? It's not like trying to take a human soul is illegal here."

_'I don't think he wants people to see his eyes glowing. He isn't exactly the person who was supposed to absorb the souls... And even with all that power, he never attacked the Ruins. It's not like a door would be enough stop him.'_

"Maybe he's afraid of Toriel? You did say she was a boss monster. And if she was the former queen, having her death on his hands would get real messy real fast. My guess is that he's trying to keep things as clean as possible." Purple folded his hands in his lap and rested his chin against the side of the boat. "...Can you hear that?"

Chara stiffened and listened. They only heard the gentle whisper of wind as the boat passed by Waterfall. _'No. What is it?"_

"Someone's singing." Purple closed his eyes, letting his hand hang over the side of the boat to touch the water. "It's beautiful. Listen closer."

Chara looked up from the murky water to shoot a glare at Purple. _'Don't mess around! I thought you heard a guard's howl or something! Lots of monsters in Waterfall like to si...'_ They trailed off, and snorted.

"What?" Purple opened his eyes to see Chara hiding a smirk behind their hands. They were watching him... or his shoulder? "What's so fun—“

There was a spider crawling up his sleeve.

“AAHHH!"

He smacked a spider off, and sent it straight into the water. He shuddered and cringed from having contact with the creature. "Ewww! Why didn't you say anything? Why are there even spiders _on_ this boat? We were just in an icy wasteland!"

Chara was doubled over laughing. _'Awww, it probably clung to you to keep warm! Too bad you had to go and kill it. It probably came from the Ruins... You should've seen your face!'_

"You mean it was on me _the whole time_!? Ugh... For someone who's technically older than me, you’re completely childish."

 _'Your face is childish.'_ Chara prodded.

"Tra la la," the river person chimed in. "A friend told me that spiders have a favorite food... It's other spiders."

"I give up!" Purple threw his hands in the air. "Get me off this... Wait a second. This gives me an idea."

_'It does?'_

"The Core is full of deadly traps, right?"

Chara blinked in confusion. _'Yeah, lasers mostly. Why do you ask?'_

"It's the perfect web! We take control of the Core, trap him in a room, and hit him with a blast from his own creation! We can defeat him without ever having to get close!"

 _'That... That just might work. As long as you're still close enough to take his soul...'_ Chara swiped their hand through the stream, though they were unable to disturb it. They put on their best smile. _'Heh. Maybe freedom isn't as far off as I thought...'_

"See? Told you I'd figure it out. There's a solution for everything! Now-" He flipped his notebook upside down to write on the back of the first page and still avoid the metal rungs. "-Tell me everything you know about the Core."

_______

 

Sneaking into the Core was... surprisingly easy. The doors were wide open and unguarded, and everyone inside was bustling about their jobs, too busy to take notice of the child walking through. There were a ton of different uniforms rushing by- puzzle maintenance, janitors, researchers, even skilled magic users. The control room was nowhere in sight.

But they found **him**.

He was talking to a cluster of monsters in white lab coats with a clipboard in his gloved hands. It looked like he was conducting an inspection, and would occasionally gesture to a screen on the wall.

Purple ducked behind a corner.  
_That's the guy? He's scrawnier than I thought he'd be._ He risked a peek around the corner.

 _'He's a skeleton... I'm going to get a closer look.'_ Chara broke away from Purple, and stepped out from around the corner.

Even knowing they couldn't be seen, they couldn't help but tiptoe behind the bodies of the observing scientists. They positioned themselves behind a horned monster and a catlike monster, and peered up to watch Gaster's spindly hands move across the illuminated screen.

"--should be made up of non-corrosive materials only. The combination of radiation and magic will eat away anything it touches. As you all know, the geothermal energy we harness leaves behind an ozone layer that must--"

Chara's head started spinning.

It was a little off-putting to watch him carry on with his normal life. The murderer masqueraded well, he didn’t _look_ like he was a child-killer. He looked... tired.

Guess he can't plot in his evil lair _all_ day.

Chara was about to return to Purple's hiding place, but Gaster pressed a switch at the side of the screen. The screen flickered, and switched to show the current layout of the Core. With a swipe of the monitor, icons of two distant rooms lit up and swapped places. Chara ran back to Purple to report their findings.

_'That's the control room!'_

He nodded and sidled to a shadowy space against the wall. _All we have to do is wait for him to step out this door and we'll close him i--_ "Oof!"

A bulky monster nearly pushed Purple out of his hiding spot, but caught him before he fell in line of the doorway. His glasses slid off and fell to the floor.

"Whoopsie! Sorry there, kiddo. My eyes aren't what they used to be." The monster picked up the glasses and handed them back to Purple. "Maybe I'm the one who should be wearing these. Wa ha ha!"

Chara perked up at the familiar laugh. _'Ger...son?'_

_You know that old geezer?_

Chara watched the old monster shuffle past them and into the control room. _Yeah... He would come by the castle sometimes and tell Asriel and me stories about the war. He... I can't believe he's still alive... What's he DOING here?_

"G _as_ ter." His tone shifted and became serious. Several eyes turned to stare at the old tortoise. "I'd like a word, if you’ve got the time."

Gaster's fingers twitched for a moment, and he waved a hand to dismiss the other scientists. They filed out one by one, leaving the two monsters to speak.

"You've been avoiding me," Gerson spoke with a sly smile. "You and Fluffybuns, both."

"Is that all?" Gaster folded his arms and looked down on Gerson.

"Heh. Efficient as always." Gerson squinted at Gaster, sizing him up. "I came to tell you that I've been thinking about setting up for retirement. Might open up a small place in Waterfall."

Gaster turned back to the monitor, and waved his hand dismissively. "You will remain in your position for as long as monsterkind is under threat. No."

"Threat?” Gerson chuckled. “We haven't seen a human in over a decade, and I wasn't even told until they had already been destroyed. It's become clear that my services are no longer needed."

Gaster sighed, switched off the monitor, and pinched his nasal bridge. "We are still at risk of losing everything. You saw the determination of the first human."

"Did I?" Gerson tapped at his bad eye. "Y'know, I think my memory’s getting as bad as my vision. Tell you what- I'll keep an _eye_ out for someone to take my place. Someone young and strong... but it's funny that we're still doing this. Tryna get to the surface."

"It is for the good of monsterkind."

"It won't be any different from last time. Especially with Asgore changing his mind about it every other week. And with machines like yours, I'm out of a job. Not to mention..." Gerson squinted at the cracks across Gaster's skull. "Your latest achievements."

Gaster’s façade broke, and he shot Gerson a menacing glare. "You've changed, Gerson."

"HA! Maybe I have,” Gerson laughed, unfazed. “Giving up immortality has that effect on people."

Gaster gritted his teeth and crossed the room to where Gerson stood. "Yet you speak _so_ highly of it. Throwing away nearly a millennia of progress to start all over again- It’s nothing but a waste!"

"I've lived my life... Maybe you'll find out what it's like to fall in love one day, eh ding-a-ling?"

"Do not call--"

"Right, sorry, doc,” Gerson leaned back and stared at the ceiling tiles. “Well, that's all I wanted to say. Stop by and say hello every now and then, won't you? Life isn’t all about work."

Purple watched quietly as Gerson exited the control room and out of sight. Gaster rubbed his temples, grumbling inaudibly.

The man turned toward the doorway, and Purple pressed his heels to the wall. Purple listened to the footsteps, and then Gaster emerged. He walked by without spotting the child.

Purple waited until his target was well into the room before sliding as quietly as he could to the control panel at the end of the conjoined room. He was inches away from the monitor, when the echoing footsteps ceased their cycle.

Purple felt the tug of magic on his chest.

Blue energy crept up his legs, and he gripped the edges of the monitor. It felt like the room was turning sideways, threatening to drop him back into the other room.

Gaster was approaching fast on the wall/floor, eye sparking orange.

Purple shifted all his weight to one hand, and slammed the other onto the screen of the monitor.

Alarms sounded, engines roared, and the rooms flashed red.

The door snapped shut right in front of Gaster.

Gaster's room spun on its axis, evaporating his hold on the gravity magic.

Purple swiped madly at the screen, rotating the rooms adjacent to Gaster's so that he was walled in on all sides.

The titanium walls were meant to be magic-resistant, but Chara wasn't taking any chances. They took half control, and began prodding frantically at the screen to activate the lasers.

Chara heard a haunting sound like the one they heard right before Blue was killed. The far wall hissed and turned white hot. Purple found the switch and highlighted the Gaster’s room.

The lasers activated.

The wall stopped hissing.

The alarms and engines quieted.

All the children could do was watch the glow of the wall fade from white to black. Purple's soul steadily faded back into place.

"..."

_'...'_

"Did... that do it?"

They both glanced back at the screen. The display showed the room was filled top to bottom with lasers.

_'I guess... we have to spin the room back around and check...'_

"On the count of three?" Purple held a finger about the monitor and kept his eyes on the door.

_'One...'_

"Two..."

_'Three!'_

The rooms rearranged, and the door slid open, lasers shutting off.

"I don't… see him," Purple whispered. "Is he dust?"

They walked to the edge of the doorway, and stepped inside.

But no one was there.

There was nothing.

No Gaster.

No soul.

**No dust...**

There were no alarms when the room flipped upside down.

Purple smacked against the ceiling, glasses clattering off elsewhere. All there was to be seen was blue. Everything was blue. The room spun around, and he lost track of what was the wall and what was the floor.

After hitting surface after surface, he lay limp on the floor to try and catch his breath. The door slid open, and Gaster pushed Purple's soul to the back of the room.

Chara clawed their way to the doorway and grasped at its edges, glaring daggers at their oppressor.

Gaster observed them for a moment, and then walked to the monitor.

"...Is this what you were trying to do?"

Chara couldn't pull Purple out in time, and the lasers cut in three clean lines.

_______

 

…….

"Ow."

Purple had been walking to the Core mere seconds ago. Now, he stood at the start of Hotland, completely motionless.

_'So now you know what we're up against.'_

Purple placed a hand to his head and felt his glasses on his face. "Heh. I can still feel my head ringing. Weird..."

_'Can you keep going?'_

"Well... it might be harder if he cuts me into _five_ pieces."

Chara smiled. _'Alright then, let's give it another try.'_

________

 

[UNDERGROUND EXPEDITION ENRTY 2V??]

-Plan A was a bust, but we can still fight! Chara says most of **G** -*ter's memories should be reset, so it should still be a surprise attack for the most part.

-Death #2. Note to self: Crackface can summon cannons. Chara brought up something interesting on the walk there. They said he's got three human souls, but isn't crossing the barrier. Meaning he shouldn't even _need_ my soul. What’s the point?

-Death #3. Slammed into wall repeatedly. I ended up getting lost this time. The layout switches every other reset? He found me first.

-4th death. I tried drawing a map, stupidly forgetting that it wouldn't be there when I got back. Ga_-* doesn't say much- his bullets do all the talking. Orange hands are bad.

-5th death. All the bullets are either orange, or cannons. I don't think he can use regular bullets? Chara's wondering why he isn't using the other eye. Cornered after exiting a puzzle room.

-6th death. Got two hits on him. Didn't do much, but progress is progress. Maybe I should train more and come back another day. Maybe next time I'll be able to hit him without getting myself impaled. Sharp orange bones.

-7th **death**. Getting sick of rewriting all these entries. It's not just after dying either. It's after every. Single. Reset.... Blasted.

-8. Took a short break. Dropped my ----- somewhere. Can't write -----?!  
\-----.  
-*--.  
\-- **_***. I don't understand. Nearly fell off catwalk. Got shot instead. Lucky me. Maybe that's all it takes- a stroke of **luck**.

-9. Getting sick of dying. Can't say - ___ **-** *, either. I wouldn't have made it this far without Chara sharing the pain. They're surprised I lasted this long. So am I.

-10. Took another break. There's an elevator at the entrance of the Core, now... This is going to be my last run before I go back to grinding.

Purple stepped inside the elevator, taking his time to explore the Core instead of running to his death. There were several buttons on the elevator, some that weren't even numbers. He pressed one, and the room lurched diagonally.

He was really sick of moving rooms.

The hallway was grayed out, full of nostalgia and grief.

_'This is the way to the throne room. Don't go this way.'_

"Right. Going down...?" Purple pressed the buttons on the elevator, but they wouldn't light up. He jabbed at them repeatedly before resting his head against the wall. "Welp. Looks like we're walking. It's your house. You figure a way out."

_'Yeah... let's head back to Waterfall for a while.'_

"You mean we're done? Finally..."

Purple relinquished control, and Chara began the trek through New Home.

They got halfway down the corridor before the elevator chimed and opened up to a twisted smile.

Chara lost their footing, and bumped into the wall. "How?! You aren't supposed to be here!"

Gaster stepped out of the elevator and folded his hands behind his back. "I could say the same to you, but it seems that all the conditions for this meeting have been met... Fate does like to have fun." He laughed like he knew some secret.

"Chara... now would be a good time to reset."

_'Right! I'll--'_

The world wouldn't reset.

No matter how hard Chara tried.

_'I... I can't?! You said you could handle one more!'_

"What? No... No! I'm positive I should be...” He found that he couldn’t look away from the man in the coat. His hands trembled uncontrollably. “Determined..."

Gaster summoned the blasters and Purple pressed against the wall.

"You’re so tense... 'Liven' up, why don't you?" Gaster toyed, and brought the teeth of the blasters close to the shivering violet soul.

Gaster had them pinned he knew it.

"Now that I can be assured I won't have to repeat myself, I must say that my delivery took far to long to arrive. Or did you forget our deal?"

"I'm not making _any_ deals with you!" Chara spat.

"And yet here is the soul I asked for." Gaster tilted his head, examining the soul with the orange eye. "No matter how much LV you gain, you cannot alter your base stats... You stood a better chance when you were wearing a tutu."

"MURDERER! She was... WE’RE ALL JUST KIDS!"

Gaster's eye twitched, then he charged up the blaster. "I disagree. You are more like a snake that sheds its skin. I have nothing more to say to you. Shall we end this quickly?"

Chara pushed off the wall as it was blown to bits, and sprinted down the hall.

_'We can't outrun him. You NEED to be determined. Think of something that fills you with determination! Anything!'_

"I'm trying!"

The blasters were gaining, and the throne room lay ahead.

They barely had time to register the golden hallway before Gaster forced them to the ground. Chara lashed out, kicking and scratching at anything they could get ahold of. They managed to tear off a glove, and flail a punch.

Purple's hand went straight through Gaster's, and was seized at the wrist.

There was a gaping hole in Gaster's hand.

It was the last thing Chara saw of that timeline.

_______

 

.....

Chara woke up...

Purple struggled to regain consciousness.

The floor was gold beneath his limp body, and a dreadfully familiar save point shone by his face. His lungs felt like they were on fire, resets finally catching up to him.

This would be the end.

Not met with the aggression Chara dealt before, Gaster knelt down to inspect the child. "Don’t feel bad. You are rather durable for a human, but now you have reached your limit. It will be over soon. Do not resist this time."

"W-wait! WAIT!" Purple tried to sit up, and was forced back down by the gravity.

"Hm? Do you have something to say, or are you just buying time with spare change?"

"Th-th..."

"Out with it. You've wasted enough of my time."

"Buts that's your problem! This method is inefficient!" Purple's voice shook with exhaustion, but he wasn't finished just yet. "You've been waiting years for another human to fall. Even if you're a boss monster, you have to acknowledge the lives that are wasting away-- waiting for a day of liberation they'll never get to see. You can't guarantee when or _if_ another human will fall."

"Get to the point, human." Gaster's tone was cold, but had a new hint of intrigue.

"Keep me alive for your research."

"Oh?” Gaster raised a brow ridge. “And what can you offer that I do not already have with the souls?"

"I have the power to reset.... And I have Chara."

_'...What? You can't be serious with this!'_

Chara fought for control, but Purple didn't let up.

_We are out of options. This is my last shot at survival._

"You've never heard of anything like them before, right? No longer human, yet not a monster... I've seen people like you before. You want to know everything there is to know about everything. And being stumped about the existence of the very person you hate the most- it's been eating away at you for years, hasn't--"

"Enough!" Gaster pressed his hand so that it almost touched the floor.

Purple slammed to the floor, struggling to breathe under the immense gravity. Then… the grip on his soul slackened. He lifted his head and watched Gaster straighten himself up, smoothing out his coat.

“…Very well. Stand, and follow me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> " Not only this, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces perseverance; 4 and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope:" Romans 5:3-4 (WEB)
> 
> You didn't think I'd kill him off after just one chapter, did you?
> 
> Purple, huh? Kind of an awkward name, but I don't think Violet would fit his personality. Vio?
> 
> Lavender is out of the question.
> 
> Up Next: The result of the calculated risk


	17. Testing Testing 1, 2, 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ladies and gentlemen! Boys and girls! Agender individuals and disembodied souls! Come one, come all to Gaster's house of horrors!

Any thought of running was soon abandoned when Asgore's humming echoed from down the hall.

Gaster took notice of Purple's hesitation, and flicked his gaze back at him. He flashed his eye in warning. Purple tripped over himself to walk close behind the man. Gaster pushed Purple into the open elevator, and pressed a complicated sequence of symbol buttons.

Purple held his breath as the door creaked shut, closing him in with his killer. It was like being shut in a cage with a sleeping, yet ravenous beast. The elevator’s creaky descent seemed to go on forever. The silence between them was torturous, and Purple kept his gaze on his shoes. He moved centimeter by centimeter, not wanting to draw attention, and rested himself against the wall. He had already been dizzy from the resets, but the change in pressure made his ears pop as they delved further and further into the depths of the Underground.

Finally, the elevator room quaked, and hit its destination. The doors clattered open to a network of dim hallways lined with windows viewing the adjacent rooms. Gaster took Purple by the arm, and began steering him through the maze. Through the windows, Purple caught glances of other scientists bustling about their work. They didn't give any indication that they could see the child being dragged off in front of them. For what purpose did Gaster need to watch his assistants through one way mirrors?

Spiraling to the end of the unmemorizable route, Gaster thrust open a heavy metal door and directed Purple inside. The lock clicked behind them, and the lights switched on upon entry. Several machines growled to life, but the wall lined with saws and operating knives were what demanded Purple's attention. Gaster pulled a chair fitted with straps to the center of the room.

Purple froze in the doorway, eyes flicking from blade to needle.

"Sit," Gaster instructed, and continued to rummage through the poorly organized devices.

Purple found himself unable to move.

 _'Heh... nope.'_ Chara was making Puprle's hands shake without end. The scene was very much like a twisted version of their first one on one encounter with the doctor. _'Nope. No way. I'd rather die than be at his mercy.'_

_I know you'd get a clean slate if I just gave up... but this is the only way for ME to continue._

_'I didn't mean... I don't want--'_

Gaster approached, casting a gaunt shadow over the child in the pale light. The darkened creases under his eyes were made prominent as he bared an impatient sneer.

" **Sit**."

He wouldn't give the command a third time.

Under the watchful eye of the doctor, Purple swallowed a gulp of air and fought through the paralysis, mechanically making way to the chair. It squeaked under his weight, and stood at such a height that his feet could not touch the floor. The restraining belts dangled loosely around his ankles.

Purple aligned his arms with the belts, and tried to steady his breathing, bracing for Gaster to tie him down. He was powerless to stop his fingertips from shivering whenever the doctor drew near, his body expecting only death.

He drew near, but passed right by to rummage about his desk once more, not bothering to tie a single belt. Purple cast his gaze at his trembling hands.

Purple wasn't even a threat.

It was a painful truth, but the previous timelines stood as evidence. Even if the door was unlocked and he was to make a break for it, he was guaranteed death before making it even halfway across the room. He was left unrestrained, but trapped all the same.

Gaster pulled over a tray like the kind that might be used in airport security, and dropped it at Purple's feet. He lit the orange eye, and began looking Purple up and down like he was scanning. Purple wasn't entirely sure if he was meant to be doing something, and shifted uncomfortably while Gaster walked a full circle around him. He felt terribly exposed. Finally, Gaster stopped in front of the chair, and pointed to the tray.

"Jacket. Shoes. Pen. Journal."

Without daring to protest, Purple slid out of his jacket, folded it neatly, and placed it in the tray. He placed his shoes on top. Lastly, he retrieved his notebook and pen from his pockets, and gave them a squeeze. He deposited them as well.

Gaster put a thoughtful hand to his chin, and leaned closer to inspect the child. "Glasses," he concluded, and reached out to take them. The wire was lifted away from behind Purple's ear, and he could see every crack and groove on the doctor's face. Gaster pulled away, becoming a blur of black and white to Purple's nearsighted eyes.

The blotted shape of Gaster gave a slight shake, and the man chuckled. "I imagined the reason you performed so poorly in our battle was that your defense item kept falling off, but its statistics are the poorest I've ever seen!" Purple felt the glasses tossed back into his lap, and returned them to their place on the ridge of his nose. "Not that you'd be able to leave them behind with vision as distorted as that. Poor thing..." he mocked.

Purple felt his face turn hot, and found his voice. "I can't beat you. We've established that. What I want to know is how you plan on using me."

"Hmph. You no longer have the right to your life. What I do with it is none of your concern. Arm." Gaster held up a needle, and seized Purple at the wrist. "I will tell you only what I wish. Now. I am going to compare blood samples. If I can retrieve the first human's determination through your blood, I will have a near-endless supply at my disposal. If not, I will find another means of harvesting it."

"Compare samples?" Purple's voice was not his own. "Just _what the hell_ have you been doing with my blood this whole time, you creep!?"

Gaster's face contorted into a malicious frown, recognizing that the voice belonged to Chara. "I would've had more samples if your corpse had stayed where it was." He jabbed the needle through Purple's skin, and the child let out a yelp.

"Perseverance." Purple realized that Gaster was addressing him. "You would do well to keep that creature in check. I can do much worse than just killing you. What's more, it would seem that you have failed to trigger the save point in this room. Pity."

Purple turned his head to the glowing spot in the corner he hadn't seen before. He reached out to it, hoping to set a safety net should Gaster become aggressive, but it didn’t chime.

Gaster tucked the needle away in a vial, and pulled Purple out of the chair, causing Purple’s legs to tangle in the belts and stumble to the floor. Purple was soon yanked to his feet and dragged down corridor after sterile corridor, with no real distinction of where he was or where he had been. Several lights were out or flickering, and no other scientist used the same hallways that Gaster did. The deeper into the lab they traveled, the more locked doors stood in their path. Each time Gaster opened one, his hand glowed blue, and the lock was undone by gravity magic. There was no key or code to be stolen.

Eventually, they hit the end of the hall. Gaster opened a final door to a room the size of a storage closet. There was a bed, a flickering light, and a camera at the corner of the ceiling. Purple was pushed inside.

"If you wish to avoid the fate of the previous humans, you will do well to replenish your determination before I come for you tomorrow."

“…Th-that’s it?” Purple asked nervously, rubbing the bruise that formed on his inner arm. He had been expecting to be sawed in half.

Gaster gave an amused huff. "For now. You'll remember that I am a very busy man, and you've interrupted me in the middle of my work." He stepped back from the door, hand glowing blue. "Keep yourself useful, and I'll keep you alive. Goodnight." With a swooping motion of his hand, the metal slammed shut in front of Purple, closing him in for good.

Purple listened until he could no longer hear Gaster's footsteps, then tugged and pushed at the edges of the door in a furious panic. It didn't budge even a little. He began pushing at the walls and tracing every edge of the room for some overlooked escape route, but there was none to be found. He went back to the door, beating at it uselessly.

_'Purple, stop! There's no way out!'_

"There's always a way!"

_'There isn't! Quit it before you hurt yourself!'_

Purple pressed his hands to his head and sank to the floor. After a while, he sat up and clapped his hands together. "Okay... okay! That wasn't so bad. He could've killed us but he didn't! We got away for now..."

_'For now… But each test he runs is just another nail in our coffins... He's going to take your soul eventually. After he gets what he wants, he'll kill you.'_

"I know..."

_'For all we know, three humans could fall tomorrow, and you'll be executed with the rest of them.'_

"Chara..."

_'You could wake up tomorrow strapped to a dissection table with him cutting into--'_

"Chara, please!" Purple clasped his hands over his ears. "You heard what he said. I have to become determined again.... and… I’m not sure I’ll be able to." His voice broke at the end of his sentence, and he buried his head in his arms.

_'...Sorry. It's been a little hard to think positive when it always ends in... I WANT to believe you can get out of this, I really do, but...'_

A hiccup escaped from behind Purple’s arms, and he pushed himself over to sit in the corner of the dim room.

 _'Aw geez...'_ Chara manifested their ghostly form and placed a hand on Purple's shoulder. _'Look, you've lasted more resets than anyone else so far, and that last save you pulled was unbelievable! You just need to focus on what keeps you determined.'_

"Heh... I can't really remember those things right now... but-" He produced a crumpled slip of paper and a broken pencil tip from his pants pocket, holding them out enough for Chara to see without putting them in sight of the camera. "I'll be sure to try and write them down when I do." It was the scrap of paper Toriel had written her phone number on.

Chara looked at Purple's teary smile, and laughed. _'You little sneak! I thought that was in your jacket!'_

Purple sniffled and wiped his glasses off on his shirt. "Fell out of the pocket when I took my jacket off, so I snatched it up when Captain Killjoy made me trip."

_'Ha... Well, how about you get off the floor, then? Bony Butt was kind enough to give you a bed, so I guess he's planning on keeping you a while.'_

"Yeah, maybe..." Purple hopped onto the faded pink sheets of the bed. The bed was stiff, like the kind that would be used for display only in a store, but it was slightly better than the floor.

_'You should sleep. Replenishing your physical strength will help you mentally as well.'_

"I'm really tired... but-" Purple glanced up at the camera. The camera stared back with its wide lens. "He's going to be watching. And I don't think I'll sleep well after all this."

Chara nodded. While it was true that Purple was the only child to escape the death loop, it also meant he was the only one who had to live with what it felt like to be killed over and over again. The only one aside from Chara that is.

 _'The worst of the nightmares the other kids had were drowned out by noise.'_ They paused and listened to distant hum of machinery. They were far below the area where the Core lay, yet the lab was kept surprisingly cool. _'With any luck, those engines should be enough. I'm going to see if I can find anything in the rooms nearby. Gaster doesn't know I can leave your body.'_

"See if he left any journal entries laying around. Anything at all could be useful."

_'I was thinking along the lines of find out if he has a bedroom for himself down here and plot to kill him in his sleep. But that works too. You really think he'll have notes just lying around?'_

"All geniuses do." Purple lifted his head just high enough to give Chara a tired, yet smug smile.

_'Oh shut up and get some rest.'_

Chara phased beyond the cell wall and began their search. They started with the nearest rooms. Some had their lights left on, and it was clear that this was partly why most of the lights were flickering. There were half-finished machines and broken bits of old tools scattered about. Several blueprints littered the floor, some marked with an X, others torn to pieces. Noticeably older rooms hadn't been used in a very long time, and were sickly green in color. Others still were coated in black ash, with dents and debris lodged several feet into the wall after an explosion. The only thing they thought was out of place a a single jigsaw puzzle piece on the floor. Nothing useful, but Chara noticed that they were able to stay away from Purple for longer and for a farther distance than they had before with Blue.

Chara turned down a hallway just like all the others, and almost stepped into a chasm that dropped straight down to a pit of magma. They quickly picked their feet off the ground and floated over it it. Why build a hall like this?

For some reason, there was a door on the wall across the pit that had no visible floor surrounding it. Phasing through the door revealed that it was another elevator. Chara drifted up the elevator shaft, examining the floors above. There was the occasional scientist working a late shift here and there, but there was nothing on the floors above that was at all like Gaster's lab. Not that they were able to see, anyway. The elevator was another incredibly long one, and might’ve even lead up to Hotland.

Maybe this elevator was designed so that if anyone other than Gaster tried to access the lab they'd fall into the magma.

The lab itself was set at the very bottom floor, and oddly enough, Chara could not phase any lower.

Chara could feel the tips of their fingers turn numb, and decided to head back. They followed along the path they had been so careful to memorize only to catch sight of a door they had skimmed over.

It was slightly ajar.

Chara stepped inside. This room was colder than the others, with large tubes of liquid varying in color. Other than that, they were empty.

Chara passed by the tubes, with an unsettled feeling tickling the back of their neck. The room was rectangular, and stretched back quite a ways. Towards the very back, there was a cracked monitor on the wall and yet another desk swamped papers Chara could barely read. Gaster had such frustrating handwriting, they had little hope of finding any use for his notes. They exhaled their stress, ready to call off the search.

The monitor lit up.

It had no reason to, Chara shouldn't be been able to trigger the motion sensor, but there it flickered. A partial recording of of Gaster's research, had been spoken to the monitor, and saved for a later time.

{ENTRY NUMBER *}

=Monster dust appeared in the machine today. I don't know which monsters died, or why the dust was collected, but it is exactly what I need to begin my research on soul creation. Using energy from both the human souls and my own, I will attempt to give this dust life and a stable form.

{ENTRY NUMBER **}

=* was a fair prototype, but without a solid form it is of little use to me. The newer creations are vastly superior in intellect, and show no sign of degrading into dust or puddles. * tried to escape through the pipe system. The excess determination has caused it to shape shift beyond its control.

{ENTRY NUMBER ***}

=* Has made an effort to communicate. Before, it would interfere with any Core powered machinery I came in contact with. Its latest means of communication was a phone call, of all things. It can only speak by using unintelligible phrases and croaks, and the quality of the call was poor. More dust appeared today. There is no logical purpose for me to repeat the phenomenon, yet I cannot seem to stop creating these *s.

The papers piled high on the desk all came avalanching down and spread about the floor with a high pitched ringing. Chara jumped back from the desk, but no one was there. The ringing they soon discovered, had come from an old telephone buried sloppily beneath the paper, and its vibrating shook loose a few stray papers.

Chara shook their head at themselves. Why did they let themselves get spooked that easily? They were practically a ghost already!

That was all there was to the entries, and Chara made haste to return to Purple before their limbs numbed entirely.

Purple was curled under the sheets, breathing softly with his mouth tightened into a line. His stomach was growling hungrily, and his face twitched at the discomfort. It didn't look like a very peaceful rest.

He had the slip of paper clutched loosely in his hand, and Chara peered over him to inspect his entry.

[UNDERGROUND ~~EXPEDITION~~ SURVIVAL ENTRY 3V1]

[Things that help me stay DETERMINED]

-Writing, Food, Crosswords, ~~Knowing that I’m absolutely not trapped in a cave filled with deadly monsters~~ , Staying positive, Family?, Grandma.

-I've managed to avoid meeting an immediate **doom** for the time being, but it's possible I traded a swift death for a slow one. G-_*_ claimed that he was not a **murderer**. That he's doing this for the **life** of every monster in the underground, but why then? When Chara spoke today, why did he have such a strong **hatred** for them? The marks on my arm are proof enough of that. Whatever the reason, I can only hope he's not just keeping me **trapped** out of a lust for **cruelty** against them. ~~I'm afra.~~ I don't know what will happen tomorrow. This could be the last thing I ever write. No. I can't think like that. I need to stay **calm**. I need to stay determined. Somehow.

-Chara, if you're reading this, that probably means I'm asleep. Stop reading my stuff- That’s really nosey of you.

-G*s--_, if _you're_ reading this,

  
you're a jerk.

Chara snorted. It wasn't a very happy entry, but he was trying. As long as he kept trying, they had a shot. With little else to do, Chara sat at his bedside, and waited for what they assumed would be morning.

_______

 

Purple woke up in a cold sweat, grasping the fabric of his t-shirt over his heart. His eyes shot around the room, taking him a while to remember where he was. The engines had shut off in the middle of the night, leaving the room in a dead silence.

 _'Sorry,'_ Chara appeared from their place on the floor. _'I wasn't able to wake you up… Was it bad?'_

Purple released his shirt and groaned into his hands. "If you consider being buried alive while having skeletons claw their way into my coffin bad, then yes. I'd say it was a bit concerning."

_'Did you hear any voices?'_

Purple adjusted his glasses so they sit comfortably on his nose and shook his head.

_'That's fine. I was just wondering.'_

Purple tucked his note beneath the uneven mattress before standing up for a good stretch. He was rubbing the spot where a spring poked into his back when he heard the clicking of shoes against linoleum. Purple became very pale.

"That's him. Chara, I'm not determined. He's going to kill me!" He paced rapid circles across the short length of the room. "I shouldn't be here. This was a terrible mistake. _Why_ did I come here?"

_'Calm down! It will take a while to walk to the save point. You have time! Focus. What kept you determined when you were in the gold corridor?'_

"Grandma. My grandmother was the only one I could rave about monsters with. The stories she would tell got me into writing. All I wanted to write about was monsters... I wasn't very good at first. Nearly everybody I knew said it was a waste of time. I knew I was right, but why couldn't _I have been wrong_?"

The clicking was getting loud.

Chara began peeling through memory after memory, looking for anything that get him back on track. They saw him being sat down by his parents after a teacher called about his 'abnormal obsessions' interfering with his schoolwork. They saw his shame whenever he was asked what he wanted to be when he grew up. All the negative memories were pushing the positive ones to the very back. Chara could just barely latch onto a weak moment of happiness.

_'Your grandma- she helped you see something important. What was it?'_

Purple folded his hands against his forehead and squeezed his eyes shut. "Life is full of trouble, suffering, cruelty, and problems, but every problem has a solution... I don't know if I can solve it, but getting out of here is just one big convoluted puzzle."

He inhaled and exhaled with the fullness of his lungs. The clicking had stopped.

"I'm going to get out of here."

"Are you now?" Gaster smiled down at him. "If clinging to a false hope is what keeps you determined, then it is all the same to me. Come."

Purple was led to a different room much farther down the hall. He did his best to keep up with Gaster’s pace without slipping around on his socks.

The new room contained nothing but a desk with two chairs set on either side, and a save point in the corner. The two of the sat across from each other, and Gaster folded his hands neatly on the desktop.

"Before we start." He bent forward, eye alight and cutting. "Activate the save point."

_I'm going to escape. I'm going to be free. It's not a lie._

_It’s NOT a lie._

The save point chimed, and Gaster's eye flashed.

"Good." He pulled away, returning to sit back in the chair. His eye relaxed from orange to white. "Now then, shall we begin?" He twirled a bony finger in the air, and a camera lowered down from the ceiling with blue magic, coming to a stop in front of Purple's face. "I've noticed drastic differences in demeanor whenever you relinquish control over your body. I'm going to record images of the differences. When I give the command, you will switch control with the first human, and back again when I say to do so. Do you understand?"

"The 'first human' has a _name_ ," Chara protested. "Why the formality? I know you remember it."

Gaster tapped an irked finger against the table, clearly less than pleased with Chara’s outburst. "You don't have a name. Not anymore. I did not give the command yet. Away with you. Before you do something you regret _again_."

"Yeah? At least I have a conscience! Murder, corpse vandalizing, and now kidnapping? I've done terrible things, but you do them repeatedly and on purpose!"

Gaster glowered at Chara and arose from the chair. "Can you really call it kidnapping if he was outright begging to be taken? Away with you. **Now.** "

Purple urged to regain his place to prevent provoking the doctor further. It wasn’t fair. Everything they threw at Gaster was twisted around and throw right back at them. The worst of it was, he was always right. Chara receded.

"Are you ready to listen, now?"

"Yes."

Gaster plucked Purple's glasses from his face, and fiddled with the camera. "Switch."

Purple and Chara switched back and forth a total of twelve times, Chara being sure to give Gaster the most hellish glare they could muster on each of their turns.

"Eyes truly are windows to the soul, aren't they? Determination and Perseverance. Borderline synonymous in definition, yet the differences are simple as telling red from violet." Gaster clicked through the images on the camera, tapping his chin. "Use the save point again."

Purple eyed the point warily. He was not eager to be tricked into a death loop. "Are you going to kill me just to try and record what it looks like? It won't survive the reset."

"There is no need. I already have recordings of your deaths... You’re one to appreciate research. Would you like to see them?"

Purple stared at the man in confusion, feeling sick at the thought of watching himself get eviscerated.

Gaster slammed a fist on the table, making Purple leap back so that the legs of the chair scraped against the floor. Gaster choked out a fit of laughter at the child’s reaction. "Reactions- just like that one! I've recorded your hesitations, second guesses, split second differences, but most importantly- I watched the determination fade from your face little by little with each reset. Your reactions are what give it all away." He wiped his eye with his glove and rested his chin on his folded hands. "Can you imagine what it felt like? Having records of something that shouldn't exist? Think of me what you may- I am not a sadist, but I _am_ a scientist."

“The… machines can save my reactions?” Purple was liking his odds of escape less and less, but this was his chance to figure out what exactly was happening behind the scenes. He had to keep Gaster talking.

“No, no. The machines _are_ the save! Rather, the Core is what is able to save the data.” Gaster waved a dismissive hand like it was obvious. “A creation of that caliber was made for more than just supplying energy. It has access to the entirety of the Underground from each end of the barrier. Using what little determination I collected, I granted it the ability to create artificial save points and record data. I cannot use the points myself, but I can observe anything caught on the Core’s cameras. Any data from the Underground I deem hazardous is deleted immediately across all possible timelines. You may have noticed certain words or phrases struggle to stay in your mind. That is my doing.”

Chara stood and pushed away from the desk, looking from Purple’s hands to Gaster’s crescent moon grin. “Their names. My name.”

“Your names, your lives. Everything connected to you. The less you care to remember, the easier it will be to forget. The Core is unprecedented, practically alive! But I’ve come to realize there are still some minor glitches to be ironed out.” Gaster swiped his finger lazily, and Purple’s chair pushed against the backs of Purple’s knees so that he fell back into it. “I meant to be rid of _you_ completely.”

“So that's the reason the Core’s layout changed, but how did you know to take the elevator? You didn’t notice the resets up until the very last one.”

Gaster pulled a stack of cups out from a drawer and placed them on the desktop. “Care for a demonstration? Here I have three wooden carvings of a moon, sun, and star. Activate the save point and I will shuffle the cups without you watching. The sun and moon are your death. Your goal is to find the star.”

Purple saved, and waited for Gaster to finish shuffling. He chose the cup on the left.

The moon piece was underneath.

“Reset,” Gaster said, and Purple did.

This time he chose the cup on the right and found the sun piece.

“Reset.”

Purple lifted the cup in the center, where the star piece should’ve been.

The moon piece was there, and Purple stared confused.

“Reset,” Gaster said with a smile.

Moon. Sun. Sun. Moon. Sun.

The star piece was nowhere to be found.

Purple stared angrily at Gaster.

“Aren’t you going to choose?”

“Did you even put the star piece under there? What’s the point?”

“You’re complaining after only seven resets?” Gaster tilted his head. “Are you sure patience is your subtrait?”

Purple picked up all three cups and tossed them aside. “Are you trying to drive me insane? Is that it?” He stared at he pieces that lay on the desk, and inhaled sharply.

Three star pieces.

“Well, you didn’t have to go and cheat.” Gaster was grinning a crooked smile at Purple’s confusion. “Look at that, you’ve survived my challenge! Aren’t you so relieved?”

Purple must’ve missed something. This made even less sense than before.

_Multiple failures, and then he just throws the game?_

_Multiple failures… multiple deaths…_

_Multiple deaths, and then he let Purple live._

“I am able to make small changes in timeline at the cost of a bit of energy. It is both a matter of random chance and predicting your opponent. Do you understand? I read you like a book until you hit the frequency I want. Shame you became unwilling to continue once you hit my surprise.” His eyelight illuminated his smile in a sinister glow. “I truly am glad you convinced me to keep you alive, you know. You’ve been so helpful in showing me see that it took far too many resets to get this result, which makes predicting a bit harder. What was the order you looked under the cups again? Left, right, middle, right, middle, left, left, left?”

It was at that moment Purple could truly see Gaster for what he was. Purple hadn’t convinced Gaster to keep him alive, he _planned_ for Purple to ask him. He wasn’t just powerful—He was a genius!

And that was utterly horrifying.

“W-what kind of scientist _are you?_ ”

“Having a life that doesn’t expire gave me enough time to learn a multitude of things. Ideal for the title of Royal Scientist, no? Anyone else would go mad trying to know all I do within an average life span…” Gaster’s smile fell a bit as he said this, and he rose from his seat. “Enough games. You’ve wasted my time again. Back to your cell.”

The walk back was in a desolate silence.

Purple squeezed his free arm around his stomach to muffle its pained groans.

_Do you think he’s going to give me anything to eat?_

_‘Ask’_

_…I can’t._

_‘You have to.’_

Purple glanced up at Gaster as he was towed down the hall to the cell, and cleared his dry throat.

“…Um.”

Gaster kept heading towards their destination, but looked back down at Purple with a cheerless grunt.

“Speak.”

Purple cleared his throat again. “C-can I have some water?”

_’Please.’_

“Please?”

Gaster stopped abruptly in the middle of the empty hall, and Purple almost bumped into him.

Purple kept as still as he could, bracing himself in case he was about to get hit.

Gaster on the other hand, looked somewhat confused, which was rather satisfying to see on him for a change. He ran a hand over his face, before rushing along even faster without so much as a glance at Purple.

“Yes, I will bring you water and food,” he replied curtly, releasing Purple’s arm and lifting the cell door with his magic. “In.”

Purple stepped inside, and the door was shut behind him.

 

_______

 

Purple finished devouring a weird biscuit and wiped his hands off on the leg of his pants. He fell back on the bed with a sigh, relieved that he wasn’t going to be starved to death.

_’Are you going back to sleep already?’_

“Mm thinking,” Purple mumbled and counted the metal panels on the ceiling. “I just don’t see any way out of this. Do I fight until the bitter end, or just… accept it?”

_’There’s still a lot of rooms I haven’t checked yet. Don’t put yourself down because Gaster showed off his snooty abilities. You’re pretty clever yourself.’_

“Yeah, I’m so clever I can’t even think of a way out of this room.” Purple kicked the sheets into a clump at the bottom of the bed. “In the end, it’s the Royal Scientist against a little kid. I really was asking for this, wasn’t—“ He trailed off mid sentence and squinted up at the ceiling. “…That damn spider again.”

Chara followed his gaze and saw the tiny arachnid dangling from its newly formed web in the corner. _’Nah, I saw you send the other one flying into the river. It has to be a different one… I think it’s waving at you.’_

“Oh _good_! So it’s not the same spider. I just had _two_ crawling all over me when I left the Ruins. Now I’m roommates with a spider and I don’t even have a shoe to throw at it.”

_’ Well while you two get cozy, I’m going to have a look around.’_

“Again? Don’t you sleep? People can only last up to about two weeks without sleep before they die.”

_’A bit late for that. Besides, it’s better if I don’t. I won’t be long.’_

 

______

 

After searching destroyed room after destroyed room, Chara wasn’t expecting the room filled with monitors all alight with text. Gaster must’ve been here recently and left the lights on. They began reading immediately.

{SOUL TRAIT ANALYSIS ENTRY NUMBER 312}

=Patience and Bravery are in my hands. From near opposite sides of the electromagnetic spectrum, I had assumed they would be incompatible, but it would seem that soul compatibility has little to do with that. This posed a problem with their absorption. The souls by themselves have proven more difficult to tame than I had anticipated. They rebel consistently, and create a hell of a headache when their powers are used in excess. Instead of receiving curse marks beneath my eyes, Bravery so kindly decided to crack open my skull. Steps need to be taken for them to remain docile, or I will repeat the same mistake as the deceased prince.

{SOUL TRAIT ANALYSIS ENTRY NUMBER 517}

=The souls aided me in acquiring Integrity. As expected, they rebelled in a passionate rampage when I came in contact with the new soul, and I was forced to unfuse with the both of them momentarily. It was at that moment I had realized that Patience had taken every bit of my aqua magic with it. I should have suspected the pests were up to something when I became unable to use my regular, white bullets. I must not risk the same outcome with Integrity. More concerning still, I was not able to overpower Integrity’s save point, even with the souls. I discovered the determined demon survived erasure.

{SOUL TRAIT ANALYSIS ENTRY NUMBER 718}

=I have switched to draining energy from the souls rather than absorbing them. The migraines have weakened, and the process poses a greater risk for the soul than me. That is their problem.

{SOUL TRAIT ANALYSIS ENTRY NUMBER 753}  
=If someone else were to absorb the souls, would they obey? No short-lived fool of a monster can be trusted with overcoming the power of determination and freeing monsterkind. A boss monster is required, yet there is none fit for the task… No, it has to be me. The souls will learn to accept me as their vessel in time…

{SOUL TRAIT ANALYSIS ENTRY NUMBER 818}

=I let my curiosity get the best of me. I borrowed energy from the three souls to see if I could create an artificial one with my own dust as a vessel. I borrowed far too much from Patience, and the creature I created claimed that energy for its own. I can no longer draw from Patience for risk of cracking the soul.

{SOUL TRAIT ANALYSIS ENTRY NUMBER 888}

= I have drawn up blueprints to mirror that of the blaster. Rather than running on the Compassion of a monster’s white soul, this one will run on Emptiness. The blaster was created for output, but this new creation will be for input. However, it suffers from the same deficiency the Core does. Running on Emptiness, abbreviated as K for simplicity sake, requires the photons of C, M, and Y. I retrieved C and Y from Patience and Bravery. It is M that is lacking, as M, like K, is not one of the seven natural human soul traits. M can be created with Integrity and Determination, yet Determination is exceedingly low in supply. To think I would have had more, plus a forth soul if that demon hadn’t gone and gotten their soul shattered. Even more troubling, if the two traits are mixed incorrectly, Perseverance will result instead. It can’t be helped. I will have to make do with what I have until the next human arrives.

Chara felt a swell of bittersweet gratitude for Cyan and Orange. Even in death, they fought to keep Gaster at bay. Chara didn’t care much for protecting the surface from monsters like they did, but preventing a world under the reign of Gaster was worth a word of praise.

But the news of the reverse blaster was worrying to say the least. It didn’t really matter _what_ it was meant to do, if Gaster was looking over these notes today, he might be planning to test the ‘absorber’ on Purple.

Chara drifted over to the next monitor to continue reading, but the door was thrust open with a great force as Gaster strode inside. He hauled massive rolls of blue papers and dumped them on a nearby worktable before moving to switch off all the monitors.

Chara growled in their loathing for the man, and tried to stab him with their eyes.

Gaster turned back to his mess of blueprints and ran both hands over his cracked skull. He shook his head and pushed the papers away before snapping his fingers. Chara jumped back as the blaster formed and disintegrated the blueprints with a deafening roar.

The entire table was reduced to a pile of black ash.

“There now, that’s better,” Gaster placed his hands on his hipbones, sounding quite pleased with himself. “No sense in keeping flawed designs. If the machine is truly impossible to make, then I will merely have to draw up an impossible design.” He lit the orange eye and waved a hand at what Chara had thought was a wall. The wall lifted away, and there was no looking away from the lights hidden behind it.

Chara stopped breathing.

They were all here.

Cyan, Orange, and Blue.

Floating there in the canisters.

There was an empty one, too.

Gaster approached and placed a hand on the lid of the Orange soul. Orange energy flowed out from the man, and back into the soul. “Don’t you all agree?”

It was wrong to see Orange’s soul sitting immobile in a glass case.

With _him_ talking down to all of them!

Chara was shaking.

 _’I’m… sorry…’_ was their pathetic response to the souls they’d failed.

Ghostly water clouded their vision and vanished before hitting the floor.

_’I’m… so sorry!’_

Gaster rubbed at his eye, and lowered the wall back down. Chara shook violently in place, and watched the souls disappear once again.

They could’ve sworn they saw Blue nudge up against the glass.

They floated there, shivering while Gaster busied about the room. There had never really been time to mourn them all, had there? Did they have the right to? If not them, who else could truly remember? They stood in silence.

After several minutes passed, Gaster began opening and shutting a series of over-stuffed drawers. Disturbed by the racket, Chara turned their attention back to the man, giving him an empty glare.

He produced Purple’s now tattered notebook from the wreckage and glided out the door.

_You shouldn’t have that. That doesn’t belong to you!_

Chara pursued Gaster, arsenic doused on their rage. He was headed straight for the cell. They didn’t anticipate he would want to do another test today. _Damn it!_ They ran ahead, narrowly beating him to the room. _’GET UP! GET UP!’_ They pushed and jabbed Purple’s sleeping body with their unsolid hands. His eye twitched, and his mouth frowned, but he was a frustratingly deep sleeper after being kept up by the nightmares. He hadn’t even taken off his glasses!

The door opened and Gaster stopped when he saw the child was asleep. He observed for a short while, and then spoke.

“Perseverance.”

Purple’s brow furrowed at the voice, but he did not wake. Chara joined with him, opening an eye to bore it straight through Gaster.

“Hmph.”

Gaster dropped the torn notebook facedown on the floor, stepping on it as he made his exit.

“A predictable victory right from the start… How boring, there is nothing new to learn. If nothing else, you might try and keep things interesting during your short stay.” He smiled sickly sweet at Chara.

“Who knows? Perhaps you’ll find favor in a roll of the dice.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom." Psalm 90:12 (KJV)
> 
> Aaaand we're back! Happy New Year, everybody!
> 
> I wrote a good chunk of this chapter in Indiana at INDYCC, and I'm feeling pretty good about it!
> 
> My question today is which soul traits would you have for both your main and sub?
> 
> Up Next: More fun times with Gaster. ~Yaaaay~


	18. Daydreams And Nightmares

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A nice, relaxing day in Gaster's lab. Another daring tale of Infared and Ultraviolet.

Gaster truly was a busy man.

There were days where Purple wasn't brought out for testing at all, and his only interactions with the Royal Scientist were when he was given food to eat. There was one day in particular where a crabapple was chucked in before the door immediately slammed shut again. The days that Purple _was_ tested were equally rushed, and he found himself being spun around and pushed through machines without so much as a word from Gaster. It was as if he had booked his entire life minute to minute with work.

It was incredibly tiresome.

Today, it seemed, would be another day of endless waiting in the cell. There was still no progress on escape, and he had already been bored to the point of using his socks as hand puppets. The only thing that ever changed in the tiny room was the spider’s web. As a spider, it didn't need food or water as often as Purple did, but it wove delicate patterns of silken lace all the same.

When Purple zoned out, Chara would sometimes take over and doodle the webs in the margins of his notebook with a pen he’d stolen.

[UNDERGROUND SURVIVAL ENTRY 4V1]

\- Each **nightmare** is worse than the last. Chara told me to keep an ear open for the weird voices, but all I ever hear are screams and static. I _have_ seen the faces the told me about, though. They’ve all got that same look of **horror** and overwhelming **sadness**. Stick the freaky faces on the body of a spider, and you’ve got yourself a full-fledged nightmare. I’ve got no time for peace, it would seem. It’s always either nightmares, being stuck in this room, or worse- being outside the room with G_st-r. If I could just **create** some story of why he should let me go I could escape whatever **terror** he has in store for me at the end of all this. At least I can find some **relief** in writing. I was a pretty healthy **dreamer** before I ended up here. Life was great. Father would nag at me to join the military, or become a doctor like him, and I would write stories about a kid who discovered he could breathe fire. I just hope I haven’t forgotten the passion I put behind all those old **dreams**.

"Seriously, stop messing up my notes. There's only so many pages left, and it was meant to be _private_. You've drawn the same webs and flowers over a hundred times by now… And please tell me that’s not an egg sac in that web you just drew!"

_'Hey, don't blame me for ruining your book. I'm not the one who tore it up.'_

"He had it for like a day!" Purple lamented over the wrinkled pages falling from the spiral rungs. "I never thought someone of such high status would have the organization skills of a three-year old!"

_'You're getting irritable from being holed away in here. Let's go over our options again, okay? …We could try sabotaging Gaster's machines?'_

"Except we barely know what any of it does. We can't read half of the stuff he writes, although I _have_ been working on deciphering it." Purple chewed on the pen, grinding it between his teeth. "Do you think this memory problem will stop if we destroy the Core?"

_'I'm not sure where we would start with that. It's not like it has a self-destruct button. If we manage to destroy it somehow, and we don't blow up everything around it, the entire Underground will be left without power. And if we DO blow everything up, there's no telling WHAT will get deleted.'_

_'Anyway, destroying the Core isn't going to help us escape. Try taking this one step at a time. Is there a way to distract Gaster while your out of this room?'_

"Doesn't matter if he's distracted or not- doors are always locked. Just as locked as this one." Purple rolled the pen in his mouth and pressed a hand to his temple. "He's just too much. Even _with EXP_ , I'm weak. Even when I'm from a family of _doctors and battle strategists_ , all I've learned since birth adds up to nothing against his hundreds of years of research. _I can't--"_

_*SNAP._

The pen cracked open between Purple’s teeth, and splattered his mouth with ink. He scrunched his eyes shut and spat dark fluid onto the floor. Chara manifested beside him to survey the damage.

"Eugh… I think I got it in my eyes. How are we going to clean this?"

_'Well, don't wipe it on the sheets- Gaster might get mad.'_

"What then, my shirt? I'll probably die in this thing, you know."

_'Stop talking like that, it's bad for your determination! It's better to have ink on your shirt than...'_

Chara trailed off into silence, listening, and phased their head through the wall to look into the hallway. They pulled back in with a troubled look. They didn't need to say anything for Purple to know what it meant.

Gaster wrenched open the door with his magic, took one look at Purple, and pinched his nasal bone with a long, drawn out sigh.

 

_______

 

"I will return in approximately thirty-three minutes. That mess is to be gone when I return."

The door clicked behind Gaster, and Purple was left in a fairly lit room containing a tub with a shaggy blue bath mat at its front. It looked brand new, along with several towels varying in size. Some of them had little flowers embroidered on them.

The scene was entirely uncharacteristic of the lab, and it put Purple on edge.

"Are you as weirded out by this as I am?"

_'Maybe there was a sale??'_

"I didn't think Gaster would be the flowery type," he said stroking an iris on the fluffy towel. "Think there's cameras in here too?"

_'I don't see any, but I'll keep watch if you're nervous about him coming back.'_

"I'm not bathing with you in here."

_'I've lived and showered in both male and female bodies. I've seen it all at this point.'_

Purple crossed his arms and turned his stained mouth into a frown. "I don't care _what_ sex you are. I don't want you to see!"

_'Pfffffff!!'_ Chara covered their mouth to suppress their snicker. _'You said sex!'_

Purple watched in disbelief as Chara doubled over choking with laughter. "Really. You've got to be _decades_ older than me. Act your age!"

Chara's laughter died down, and they grinned like they hadn't done in quite a while. _'I won't look, geez! Just hurry up before Smiley-Mc-Sunshine comes back. Now THAT would be uncomfortable.'_

Chara drifted back into the hallway and planted themselves in front of the door. It was quite the contrasting scene to the bathroom, dreary and dull. They closed their eyes, and tried to picture a happier setting. The growling echo of machinery became the rolling wheels of a train, and the ghastly draft of the hall was a chilly winter wind rushing by the windows. Chara leaned against the wall and let themselves be swept away. The winter air was cool, smelling fresh and… burning?

Chara’s eyes flew open. It was coming from the bathroom. They stepped forward to phase through the door, but stopped. Purple really didn't get much privacy these days. They called out to him instead. _...You okay in there?'_

"Uhhh." Purple responded through the door. "I might need your help-- hang on." There was the sound of shuffling fabric. "Can you come in here?"

Chara reentered the bathroom to see Purple standing to the side with an oversized towel draped over his shoulders and torso.

Oh yeah, and the showerhead was spewing fire.

_'You set it to Pyrope! Read labels on buttons before you press them!!'_

"I didn't press anything!"

_'Well press the PYRP button to turn it back off before you incinerate Gaster's freaking flower towels! It's not that hard!'_

Purple frowned, and shimmied behind the jet of fire, mindful to avoid singeing his arm. He jabbed at the buttons. The fire sputtered, and ceased its senseless spewing. Seeing that no part of the tub had been turned into charcoal, Purple breathed out a sigh of relief. He tried pressing the button labeled for regular water. The showerhead shuddered, but gave no water.

_'Its not working.'_

"You think?" Purple threw Chara a glance. It soon morphed into a sly look. "You're a wiz with these things- just read the labels, right Chara? Surely there must be a logical explanation for it not to work. It's not that hard."

_'Okay, okay, I get the picture. Quit talking like that, it makes you sound like even more of a stuck-up nerd.'_

Purple rocked back on his heels with a grin. "Sorry, Chara, but _according to my calculations_ , you are the one who is the nerd."

_'Ughhh!'_ Chara groaned. _'I just don't want you setting yourself on fire the second I turn my ba---!'_

Chara turned around to face the showerhead for emphasis, and was met with a bubbly smile.

"What… is that?"

_That_ dropped off the showerhead and splatter into a puddle in the floor. The tile sizzled beneath it. More faces formed and smiled up at Purple.

"J*_--**!" it burbled, and Purple covered his ears to block the noise of nails in a chalkboard and computer errors. It seeped its way across the floor, and Purple leapt back.

_'Think it likes you?'_

The smiles contorted, and lunged out, leaving burn marks across the floor. Purple evaded it again, "That would be a no. Get lost!"

"**_-- - _***e."

The silvery goop abandoned the chase, and drained away through a grate in the flooring. It left a trail of smiley bubbles that floated up to Chara's nose with a *pop*.

Purple was quick to stuff the grate with towels in case the thing decided to come back. "Gross... there's pieces of it all over the floor." He reached down to pick up a silver lump no bigger than a double A battery. As soon as he touched it, he felt an odd sensation tickle the back of his head.

The piece morphed into the shape of a Froggit, and it lunged straight for Chara. It phased through them, of course, but it hit the wall, exploding behind them.

It left a mark.

Not to mention the burns on the floor.

“…”

_'We're so dead.'_

Purple tensed to see if Gaster would come barging in from the noise, but it seemed that the sound of the explosion did not carry across the lengthy halls.

"We can still clean this!" He ran to the shower and its buttons. "There has to be something that gets out seriously bad stains right?"

_'Yeah...'_ Chara hovered and filtered through the selections. _'If I recall, the Woshua setting can get out pretty much anything.'_

Purple hit the button without second thought, and began scrubbing. Whatever was in that water was amazing, and almost definitely magic. The marks wiped away without any resistance at all. With the burns all cleared up, Purple wrapped the pieces of the smiling creature in a small washcloth, careful not to touch any of them directly. He went to pour them down the grate with the rest of it, but thought for a moment.

He tucked the cloth in his pants pocket instead.

"Well, that takes care of everything."

_'Uhh, pretty sure you're forgetting something,'_ Chara smiled and gestured to their face.

Purple did the same, and remembered that his own face was still plastered with ink. "Oh. Right." He returned to the tub, and filled it with warm, clean water. He still had about 20 minutes to take the first bath he'd had in quite a while.

He did his best to enjoy it.

 

_______

 

"Explain this to me."

Purple lowered his head, gaze flicking between the monitor and the floor. The screen displayed crude footage of him thrashing around in his sleep.

"You killed me a bunch, I get nightmares. That's all there is to it."

"Hm." Gaster's eyes cut through Purple, unconvinced. "A smart mouth. So the pen thief has an attitude today."

Purple kept his gaze down.

"Never mind then, I will not fix what you will not share.” Gaster tapped his fingers against the desk impatiently. “Today we will be correcting a glitch in the erasure system."

Gaster produced an object from a drawer and placed it on the desk between them. "You are to save, and describe any change in this item’s appearance."

The save point chimed, and Purple leaned in to inspect the item. "It's a blue box... kinda faded, and it has some writing on it. I think it says--"

Gaster put up a hand. "That is enough. Reset, and try again."

Purple blinked, and reset.

"It's a faded blue box... Is this all I'm supposed to do?"

"Reset."

Purple frowned. If time was going to be reset anyway, surely Gaster could afford to explain the experiment properly. Gaster, however, did not give any further hints. Purple reset.

"It's still a blue box."

"Reset."

"It's blue."

"Reset."

"Itsblue."

"Reset."

"It's..."

Gaster tilted his head and eyed the box for himself. Purple froze, having lost count of the number of resets some time ago.

"...gray."

Something felt off.

"Your tone implies that the box was not always gray. Interesting..." Gaster tapped his chin. "Reset."

A sudden sense of dread began to weigh over both Purple and Chara.

“ _Reset,_ ” Gaster repeated.

"N-no."

Gaster brought the tips of his fingers together, eyeing Purple closely.

"…No?"

The exhausted light fixtures flickered overhead.

"What makes you say something like that to me... when you know what it will mean for you?"

Sweat began to bead at the back of Purple's neck. "You're... you're erasing someone. Aren't you?"

"Erasing... who?"

Purple didn't know.

Chara fought to remember.

"L... Light Blue?"

Gaster smiled, a glint of success in his eye. "Light Blue? What an unfortunate nickname. I suppose it cannot be helped. After all, the less you care to remember, the easier it is to forget. And you will forget them more and more. With every. Single. Reset."

"I care!" Chara slammed their fists on the desk. The box toppled over, part of it crumbleing away. "I cared about _all of them_!!"

Gaster dusted the remains of the box off the desk, onto the floor. "I see. So you must recall their names."

Chara couldn’t, and Gaster knew that perfectly well. They ground their teeth and clenched their fists.

Gaster unfolded a piece of paper and scribbled down three words in his horrid handwriting.

-*_n -_*-** *---_

"This is what was written on the coffins... And-" He wrote one more.

____****_

"--This will likely be written on the next one."

Purple went rigid.

"I... never told you my name."

Gaster's stolen eye light up bright. "Ah, but I can see it floating there right by your LV, just as well as I can see the names of the souls by their depleted HP."

Purple inched the chair away from the desk, distancing himself from Gaster’s stare.

"Now, what's with that look? I can't just let data roam free and risk an old save corrupting the new." His smile twisted into something truly sickening. "It is only to be expected. Anyone foolish enough to stroll into the king's castle is asking for their soul to be taken. You know that one of the bodies had scars, don’t you? It likely had a death wish—“

**_SMACK*_ **

Without giving the action and hesitation or thought, Chara had leapt forward, and struck Gaster across his face, notebook still held in their hand.

All parties went still, as all three of them assessed what had happened.

Gaster looked mildly surprised.

He brought a hand to his cheek bone.

He brushed the blow off like it was nothing, and arose from his own chair, casting a shadow over Chara.

“How… unexpected of you.”

Purple’s soul emerged, and was immediately dyed a menacing shade of blue.

Purple went stiff, pupils shrinking.

"Are you prepared to continue our fight, Perseverance? You might have enough determination to last a death or two."

Purple shivered violently under Gaster’s binding grip, remembering all to well what Gaster was capable of. His body was lifted into the air.

"No? I warned you to keep the parasite in check. They defend the dead, yet curse the living.” Gaster tilted his head, inspecting the fearful child. "If your going to act like an animal, you can only expect to be treated like one."Gaster pulled Purple by the soul into the hallway.

Purple attempted to balance himself as he wobbled in mid-air. Gaster took the opportunity to flip him upside down as he carried him, and Purple nearly lost his glasses.

They stopped in front of the cell door. "It would seem that your determination has depleted again. We are done for today."

The cell was opened, and Purple was tossed carelessly inside.

"Back in your canister, little soul."

_______

 

Purple hugged his knees, and sat at the corner of the bed. He kept his eyes shut, not wanting to see the camera that intermittently adjusted its lens to focus on him. His breathing was ragged from the memory of blue magic.

_’It’s okay’_ Chara tried to reassure him. _’Come on, you’re still okay.’_ Chara opted to stay with him instead of exploring the lab again.

Gaster stopped by at the usual time to deliver Purple’s food. He hovered around longer than he normally did.

Purple wasn’t ready to face the man again, and locked up completely. Chara took control, keeping their snarky comments as mild as they knew how.

"Treat is like animals, huh? But hey, we’re still alive. You sure treat animals better than you treat kids."

Gaster dismissed the comment with a passive wave of the hand. "I have not brought any severe harm to him since he has been here. There is no reason for such behavior.” Gaster shoved a lukewarm bowl of oatmeal in front of Purple’s face. “Eat.”

Purple didn't respond.

Gaster exhaled in annoyance. He picked up the notebook. Purple tried to grab it back, but Gaster held it high above his reach.

"Walking straight lines, keeping my head down. Not making a peep, nor uttering any sound..."

Chara stared at Gaster as he recited the irrelevant phrases. "He doesn’t want to be bothered. What are you trying to do? Poem him to death??"

"...Laughing at my misfortunes, I struggle to no avail. I'll continue on to find the truth to this sorry tale. This I swear.”

"No seriously, what are you even..." Chara trailed off as Purple pulled himself into an even tighter ball. They could feel his face turning pink.

"Oh."

Gaster dumped the notebook back on the bed, and Purple snatched it up, cradling it against his chest. "Your format is inconsistent. If you have time to mope, you have time to fix it. Parasite," Gaster addressed Chara with a frown. "Make yourself useful-- He is to eat every last bite, or I will return to ensure that he does."

With a swish of his lab coat, he took his leave.

There was a brief period of silence in which neither Chara nor Purple spoke. Chara wanted to say something. They had been the one to provoke Gaster into using blue magic, after all, but guilt was gnawing at them like termites. He'd blame them. It was their fault. They deserved to be the one confined to this room, not him.

"Chara...?"

Chara's thoughts were interrupted, and they could feel Purple drifting back into control.

"Yes?"

"If you're going to be in control... remember to blink, would you?"

Chara blinked in surprise, and then blinked multiple times as they realized thestrain they were putting on his eyes. "Right! Sorry... sorry..."

"It’s fine. I'm fine. I just... let him get to me is all." Purple fiddled with the plastic spoon, stirring circles in the lumpy mush. "But I thought you said it wasn't smart to piss off people who have control over whether I live or die?"

There it was, as always. Chara shrunk back in shame of their hypocrisy. _'I'm sorr--'_

"Stop that." Purple lifted the oatmeal to eye level and inspected it carefully. "We're on the same side. And just because the other players are out of commission, doesn't mean we aren't all on the same team. Don't apologize for defending a fallen teammate."

_'...Thanks.'_

Purple swallowed the spoonful, and cleared the bowl soon after. He placed the empty dish in line of the camera so he wouldn't have to worry about getting an unwanted visit from Gaster.

"Can I ask you to do something, though? I need you to find out when Gaster leaves the lab, or falls asleep or something." Purple reached into his pocket, fingers brushing the cloth tucked neatly away.

"I need to get out of here. Tonight."

_______

 

Indeed, Gaster had a bedroom built into the lab. Busy as he was, he could not afford to be far from his work. He stayed up beyond midnight, and could be expected to awaken before ‘sunrise’ the next day. Chara watched him dim the lights and the camera monitors on the wall before he lay himself down. He slept straight with hands folded, like he was shut up in a coffin.

To Chara's disappointment, Purple had opted on escaping to gain more LV before attempting to confront the man in battle. There would be no killing him in his sleep this time. Chara returned, and reported their findings.

"Okay," Purple got up from his pseudo sleeping position, and slapped himself awake. He stood on top of the bed and reached for the ceiling, screwing his eyes shut. "Here it goes..."

He reached through the spider web until his fingers grazed the egg sac. The spider was scurrying toward him rapidly, and Purple recoiled, clasping the silken cocoon.

He wanted to gag.

But instead he dragged the bed across the floor so it aligned beneath the camera. He mounted it once more, and stuck the cocoon over the motionless lens.

"There's a chance he'll think the spider did it. Either way, it's better than him seeing an empty room."

He rummaged through his pockets and pulled out the cloth. Chara stood in front of the door. "Hope this works..."

He undid the fabric and touched the mysterious monster pieces.

Immediately, several misshapen phantoms of monsters formed from the globs. They all dove straight for Chara.

They made contact with the door in a crashing burst of bullets. Purple shielded himself with an arm, flinching at the noise.

The door remained in one piece, but the force of the blow had sent it upward. It was lodged in the open position.

_'Hurry- Before it falls back down!!'_

Purple bolted out of the room, door narrowly missing slamming down in his heel. He was in the hall. Without Gaster.

He wasn't about to celebrate just yet. "Where's the exit?" He whispered, wide eyes flitting from one corridor to the next.

_'It's way down that way, back where he brought you in. Careful, he's down that way too.'_

Purple wasted no time outright sprinting in the direction. He would need to figure out the buttons on the elevator, but he had been studying Gaster's handwriting closely. Besides, they had used the elevator to get to the castle by random chance.

He blasted his way through a few more doors, and none remained in his path.

He was going to make it.

He was going to _make it_.

**click* clack* click* clack***

Purple froze dead in his tracks, the familiar sound of shoes against tile.

_'That room-- hide!'_

Purple slipped into a dark room, shutting the door behind him. His heart was throwing itself at his ribcage, and he groped desperately in the darkness for a place to hide.

As there was in every room, he found a desk, and tucked himself beneath it.

Waiting.

The clicking shoes came nearer.

Nearer still, and Purple bit his lip to the point of drawing blood.

Nearer, nearer-

It was right in front of the door.

Purple did not breathe.

The clicking paused.

And continued past the door.

Purple nearly collapsed in relief. He took a moment to steady his breathing, and crawled out from under the desk.

“Why is he awake already?”

A phone began ringing a piercing chime from the top of the desk. Purple jumped, banging into the desk.

The phone’s receiver fell off, and a voice bellowed from the other end.

"HELLO…? HELLO??"

The clicking paused, and drew nearer again.

Purple snatched the receiver into his hands.

"HELLO? CAN I SPEAK TO G--"

"Wrong number!-" Purple jammed the receiver back onto its place, and ducked back under the desk.

The door opened, a stripe of gray light crawling into the room.

The footsteps approached the desk with a slight shuffling sound.

**"Found you."**

Purple covered his mouth with his hand to muffle any fearful sound.

"Slippery thing, aren't you? I'll need to set blocks up on every vent and pipe in the lab."

…Pipes and vents?

"Come now, back in your tank."

"-__**_--!"

"No buts."

The clicking continued, and disappeared down the hall. Purple wasn't sure if he would ever be able to move from beneath the desk.

_'He's far away now,'_ Chara reported. _'You can still make it-- Go!'_

Purple got back on his feet, and paused.

“Phone,” he whispered.

He dialed Toriel’s number into the phone. He waited as it rang, checking over his shoulder every other second.

It rang, and rang, and rang.

" _Hello, this is the phone of Toriel. Please do leave a message, I would be most eager to speak with anyone who stumbles across this old woman's number!_ "

Purple swallowed. Of course she wouldn't pick up, it was the middle of the night! Or maybe she didn’t even want to hear from him after the way he treated her.

"T-Toriel? This is [Purple]. I... I need help. I'm stuck... someplace beneath Hotland, I think? I tried to fight the Royal Scientist and he's going to... If I get out, I'll find another phone and call you again… If you _don't_ hear from me--"

" _Message capacity reached. Thank you for your call._ "

Purple slowly rested the receiver back in place before making his way to the door. He peeked through a sliver of an opening, and sprinted as quietly as he could for the elevator.

He just had to make it to the end of the next hall, and he should be able to figure it out. Almost there...

He stopped.

He heard crying.

Not just crying, someone was screaming.

_'Don't.'_

"Chara, someone else could be trapped here!"

_'If it was a human, I would know about them! Leave it!'_

Purple dashed in the direction of the wails. "They aren't that far- I can't just leave them in a place like this!"

He came to the door with a clipboard hanging next to it. It was slightly ajar. He checked all around for any sign of danger, and wedged himself inside.

"UWAAAAAAAAHHhhhuu?"

Purple stared.

A skeleton stared back.

A tiny, blanket-cradling, skeleton.

It blinked, and a stray tear rolled down his face. He seemed as curious as Purple did.

"Are... you trapped here?” Purple cleared his throat, getting back to the task at hand. “Do you need help?"

The toddler sniffled and cuddled the red blanket closer to his face. "Bad dweam..."

“Okay…”

Purple wasn't expecting to find a child, nor had he ever had much experience with children before, being an only child himself. "Bad dream... Not trapped? You’re not being hurt?" The child looked unharmed anyway. The room it was in was filled wall to wall with shelves of books and puzzle boxes. It didn’t look like any of the other rooms in the lab. Something towards the back of the room was breathing heavily.

The child shook his head, and began tugging at Purple’s pant leg.

“Bad dweam!”

"Well... Just go back to sleep, okay? You’re fine."

The toddler pouted into his blanket, looking like he was getting ready to cry again.

_Chara, help me out here—You have more experience with kids than I do._

_'Yeah, and they all turned out great!'_ Chara stared just as hard at the skeleton as Purple did if not harder. _'The HELL does Gaster have kids down here? They can’t be HIS.’_

Gaster had said himself that he valued a life dedicated to work over a life of starting a family. And who in their right mind would ever start a family with _Gaster_ of all people? Sure, he could adopt, but there was no denying the biological resemblance the child had to the man. Chara tried to picture Gaster bottle-feeding the infant, purchasing and reading children’s books in funny voices, cooing, and playing peekaboo.

If Chara wasn’t already dead, they would’ve died laughing right then and there.

The toddler became impatient, and tumbled to the back of the room where it was too dark to see. He started grumbling and babbling, nudging a lump of blankets as he did.

Purple exhaled, and slid back out of the room. He picked up the clipboard, and attempted to decode the writing.

{SOUL CREATION EXPERIMENT ENTRY 34}

=This one has not melted. As suspected, a sacrifice of dust was necessary for the form to hold the soul energy. As a result, however, the soul is almost entirely that of a monster’s. It is unsuitable for breaking the barrier, like that of an animal’s. Shame all of the Patience energy has gone to waste. There is no point in keeping the creature... Then again, there is no harm in keeping it, either.

{SOUL CREATION EXPERIMENT ENTRY 95}

=After several tests, I attempted to replicate the experiment properly. The second does not share the same qualities as the first, yet its statistics are far superior. There is a clear difference in their souls. This will need looking into. I nearly forgot to feed them! All of this careful planning, and I forget something as basic as nourishment? Honestly…

{SOUL CREATION EXPERIMENT ENTRY 103}

=They are like children in nearly every way. If I had not grown them myself, I would think they were genuine skeletons. Their HP is concerning. The tunnels of this facility are leftover from when the king attempted to tunnel beneath the barrier. It is not a particularly stable place for children to grow. I will keep them safely secluded in the rooms I have prepared. The shower room had to be redone entirely, but I may need to disable the alternate options on the panel. Are children durable enough to withstand acid? How fragile is a child?

 

{SOUL CREATION EXPERIMENT ENTRY 115}

=This is… different.

=New.

=It is good to explore what is new. They both share an aptitude for puzzles, yet the first displays this aptitude in… questionable ways. His idea of making a puzzle harder, is to hide one of the pieces away, thus making the solution impossible. It is infuriating. I believe I have grown fond of them.

{SOUL CREATION EXPERIMENT ENTRY 117}

=I have made a mistake. The first has the soul of a boss monster. I need to correct this fatal error. It must be done.

{SOUL CREATION EXPERIMENT ENTRY 118}

=No. There is no need to be hasty. There is another way. I must not give up on the project them merely because it is the quickest option. I will bide my time until the next soul falls. There has been a change in plans.

“Chara.” Purple read the last line, papers trembling in his hands.

_’Two children,’_ Chara confirmed. _’And one of them has a boss monster soul… You should take it and leave.’_

Purple looked back through the door at the toddler patting a lump of shivering blankets. “They’re… kids.”

Chara shifted in confliction. _’A kid won’t be as hard to fight as Gaster will. It’s just… free EXP. It’s not like they’re any different from all the others you’ve killed.’_

Purple clutched the clipboard, and Chara eased into control, taking the doorknob in hand. _’I understand… I won’t make you. I’ll do it.’_

_‘It’s not like I haven’t killed innocents before, anyway.’_

 

_______

 

Purple clung to the wall for support, slumping down the hall as quietly as he could. He briefly looked back at the toddler’s bedroom before bringing his attention back to his footsteps. He shook the thoughts away.

_’You’re sure you can do this? We can always go back.’_

“No… No, this is the way it has to be.”

_’Okay. And… Just so you know, I believe this was the better choice. I know it wasn’t an easy one. Let’s get you out of here.’_

Purple nodded, and checked up and down the stretch of the connecting hallway. There was the elevator.

Purple scrambled over to it, checking over his shoulder once more.

No one was there.

His heart rate picked up, and he pressed the call button. He could hear the mechanical hum of the elevator sliding down. Purple checked over his shoulder again, waiting for the door to open.

The door still hadn’t opened.

Purple stared back at it, and jabbed the call button again.

And again.

And _again_.

“My apologies, but the elevator has been disabled.”

Purple’s blood turned cold.

He flinched hard, and a hand clasped onto his shoulder.

“Lost, are we?”

Purple wrenched his shoulder away, and Gaster let him. He backed up against the sealed elevator door, fumbling to get a hand in his pocket. He had no monster pieces left.

He tried to dart around Gaster’s left side. Gaster sidestepped casually to block his way.

“Don’t look so frightened. I’m impressed that you were able to find the exit at all.” Gaster’s eyes narrowed. “Now. What have we gotten ourselves into?”

Purple couldn’t help it. His eyes flicked down the to the children’s hallway. He quickly corrected his mistake, pulling his attention back to Gaster, but it was too late.

Gaster’s expression hardened, and followed Purple’s gaze down the hall.

“What…” Dark lines drew across Gaster’s face, only illuminated by an enraged orange glow. “. . . D i d y o u d o ?”

Purple felt ice crawl up his spine.

He opened his mouth, but the words caught in his throat.

Gaster’s eye sockets became like black holes, and his crooked mouth pointed down into a sinister sneer. “ **W H A T D I D Y O U D O!** ”

Purple was seized at the wrists, past the point of cutting off his circulation. He squirmed and kicked to escape Gaster’s hold.

“S-Stop—It hurts!”

“ **You don’t know the meaning of the word!** ”

Purple bit down with all his might on Gaster’s hand. He nearly broke his teeth on the bone, but Gaster grimaced when his hand gap was attacked. Purple was slammed down onto the floor.

Before he could scramble away, his soul was snatched by blue magic, and he was forced all the way up so his head banged into the ceiling. Purple blinked the spots from his vision, breath ragged.

Gaster snarled from below, lifting his hand as high as it would go.

Purple felt himself press further into the ceiling.

Gaster was about to send him crashing into the floor at full force.

Purple squeezed his eyes shut, feeling gravity twist in his stomach.

Gaster swiped his hand downward.

“Dad?”

The gravity let up, and Purple opened his eyes.

His nose was four centimeters from the floor.

A small skeleton, a different one in blue pajamas, was peeking out from around the corner. The one with the red blanket tottered behind it, gnawing on his thumb.

“I… I had a nightmare again. What’s… happening?” He looked from Gaster to Purple.

Gaster had not taken his eyes off Purple at all.

Purple dropped to the floor, soul still held blue.

“…Everything is fine, Sans. Go back to sleep.”

Sans teetered from one foot to the other, looking unsure.

“I will be back in a moment. Now take your brother, and go to sleep.”

Sans nodded, taking his brother by the hand that wasn’t stuck in his mouth.

Gaster waited until the door clicked shut behind them before approaching Purple.

Purple lay face down on the tile, not daring to move.

Gaster knelt beside him, disheveled gray fabric dangling in front of Purple’s eyes.

“You are not to flee from me again. Is that clear?”

“I’m not… giving up hope.”

Gaster stood back up with a tired sigh, lifting Purple up with magic as he did.

“Trying to maintain your determination will no longer be necessary. The project to create an artificial soul capable of destroying the barrier has already been concluded impossible. Further more, the determination produced by your blood is of an insignificant amount. You cannot serve as livestock. Accept it. You will die.”

“So will you.”

Gaster raised a brow ridge.

“…Excuse me?”

“They’re your kids, right?” Purple trembled under the hold of magic, but looked Gaster square in the eyes. “You’re aging now, aren’t you?”

Gaster cracked a crooked grin at the remark, and pulled Purple’s soul into his hand. “Not with this, I won’t. All I ask is a little cooperation from you and the souls.” He tugged Purple back down the halls. “I did enjoy this little game… It’s too bad.”

“You're nearly out of time.“

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "(For we walk by faith, not by sight:)" 2nd Corinthians 5:7 (KJV)
> 
> Oh, hey, look who it is. About time those two showed up.
> 
> I almost uploaded this yesterday, but it was a darn good thing that I didn't.
> 
> Let's just say 'shut' wasn't spelled as it typically would be.
> 
> Up Next: Using time wisely.


	19. Symbiotic Parasite

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things to do when you've got time to **kill...**

"You're awfully quiet," Gaster spoke without looking up from his workbench. Purple rested his head on his arms at the desk pushed to the side of the room. He rolled a pencil down the rungs of the notebook lying beside him.

Though each of their attentions appeared to be diverted, the two of them could focus on little else but the antagonistic presence of the other.

"I suppose you are welcome to your silence. I had thought you wouldn't want to spend your final moments shut up in a closet."

"This isn't much better," Purple said flatly.

"Ah, so you're still talking. Good..." Gaster squinted at the device he was salvaging. It was a haggard old prototype that malfunctioned severely after failing to contain the full power of soul energy. It lay limp on the workbench as it was gutted for parts. "It will benefit us both further down the line if you open up a bit more.”

"Gee Doc, fine weather, isn't it?” Purple spat. “How are the kids?"

“Relocated for the time being.” Gaster chuckled darkly. "We'll skip the small talk. I've studied you, but even history books fail to tell the full story. Tell me something about you I don't already know. I cannot guarantee you will have anyone else to talk to for quite some time after absorption..."

Purple gripped the edge of the table and gritted his teeth. "…I'll be conscious?"

"Yes, part of you anyway." Gaster just shrugged at the fact, like it wasn't a big deal that Purple was going to be trapped indefinitely. "You will adjust to it in time. I will be taking precautions to ensure you won't cause as much of a headache as the others.”

"It's not going to _happen_." It didn't matter how hard he gripped the table. He couldn’t stop the shaking. "Just let me leave!"

Gaster didn't look up from his work. "To go where? Here or there, you know you will be killed. The humans before you were, and so will those after you." The machine groaned a mournful creak, and released a shower of sparks as its wires were torn from its body. They were tossed into a bin with the rest of its trashed components. "I can see that you are frightened of death, but do not fret... The procedure will not last long."

Gaster scrapped the remainder of the machine and strode over to the table. With a wave of his hand, he pulled over a chair to sit next to Purple. Purple crossed his ankles and tucked them beneath his own chair.

"Torturing you is not my end goal. Human souls are needed, and you are unfortunate enough to be one of them. I imagine it hasn't been at all like the stories you described in your journal, but misfortune seeks 'bad' people, and tragedy finds 'good' people. That is the way of things... If you had been born at the time of the war you would have known that.” Gaster trailed off into thought, and Purple mustered the courage to steal a glance at the man. His eye lights dulled to a dim haze, and were gazing hypnotized at the table. "I was present for the war of humans and monsters, of course. In ordinary circumstances of conflict, the Royal Scientist isn't called to fight alongside the warriors, but this was no ordinary circumstance."

"Gerson and I held our ground at the falls, defending the monsters as they fled in terror. The king had already been forced into the top of the mountain, and all that did not reach the underground in time were cut down in the chaos. The air was thick with dust, like a sandstorm… As you can imagine, those resembling the undead were the first to go."

Purple flinched as Gaster's boney finger clawed across the table with a devilish screech.

"I have a memory that ought to have been deleted. Gerson and I had both gotten ahold of and absorbed human souls... But it was undone. We could not override the power of a determined with such high level. I must have fought them— _killed them_ over a thousand times... but they were adamant to have their 'perfect ending'."

Gaster's manic smile crackled with laughter.

"Not a single human died! Not one! But countless monsters fled in fear of death, plummeting head first over the waterfalls... And do you know what that demon of a human did when I was the only one left alive?"

Gaster turned so suddenly that Purple nearly fell out of his chair. Gaster's eye flared, burning more red than orange.

"They **s p a r e d** my life, and threw me over the falls.”

Purple backed away as much as he could from Gaster, wary that the man had begun to radiate with magic in his rage.

"Those impossible memories still scream into my head-- over and over. I can still feel myself **tearing** them apart... But… that is enough story telling. You've gone and closed up again, haven't you?"

Purple’s side pressed hard against the wall like he wanted to disappear into it.

Gaster gave a dull huff of amusement, resting his chin on his hand. "Perhaps you would find it easiest to begin with your full name. I can see your first name... [Purple]… but not your last."

Purple squeezed his arms around his chest and blinked at the floor.

"You will have to speak eventually. I shall tell you mine, then.” Gaster made several gestures with his hands, spelling out the word in a strange sign language. "I am Doctor Wing Dings Gaster, Royal Scientist second only to the king himself." He signed off the final letter and extended an open hand toward Purple. "And you are...?"

....

_'...snrk!'_

Purple covered his mouth with his hands to muffle the sound. Gaster raised a brow ridge at him. _Chara… don't…_

Chara burst out in maddening laughter, slamming their fist down in the table. " _Wing Dings?!_ All the times you've killed us- all the _Hell_ you've put me through-- and your name turns out to be _WING DINGS_!!" Chara was in tears.

Gaster withdrew, curling his mouth into a sneer. "Find it funny, do you? As if the name ‘Chara Cter Dreemurr’ isn’t a joke in itself."

Chara swallowed their laugher with a sudden cough. They raised their head, looking straight into Gaster's hollow eye sockets.

"So I've still got a name then."

Gaster blinked, caught off guard.

"You saw his writing, right? He knows I've got a name... but he seems to struggle writing yours." Chara smiled, a confident expression spreading over the face of Gaster's prisoner.

"Why do you think that is, Dingbat?"

Gaster stood, chair screeching the tile beneath him. Chara was prepared to take whatever punishment was due to them, but Gaster made no movements to strike.

"I see now… You do not fear me because you think you're safe from my reach. Well..." His smile twisted, and the ceiling lights flickered. For a brief moment, the room went black, leaving only Gaster's pallid face and hands visible against his dark attire. "You need not feel left out. I've a surprise in store for you, demon. After all, I still need that determination. And I intend to have it.”

Chara’s smile fell, and they turned Purple’s hands over, looking at them like they’d never see them again. “To think… Asriel and I were going to free all of monsterkind-- even _you_ … I really am an idiot, aren’t I?”

“Yes, yes. You’re a hypocritical yet unpredictable pity of a creature. I will admit it is quite amusing for you to pretend to care for the very beings you claim to loathe so much. As for _you_ \--"

Purple barely had time to register Gaster’s movements before his hand wrapped around his upper arm. The other hand locked firmly under his jaw. Purple staggered forward, and was forced to lock eyes with Gaster.

"Your eyes should be a better fit than those miserable kindred souls." Gaster tilted Purple's head to the side. Purple's eye darted wildly, unwilling to look at the man. "The vision might need some work if it carries over, but... with perseverance as my subtrait, there should be little resistance… You will be better off with me, as you will come to see."

"I'll fight you!" Purple wriggled, unable to break away. "Don't think I won't!"

"You will be reduced to a soul," Gaster's hold tightened, and Purple's struggling became labored. "Souls are only able to resist by the power of hopes and dreams. But without someone to remember you, without memory of ever having such ideals, you will be completely powerless to stop me."

Purple was released without warning, and fell backwards, halting his fall by grabbing the table. Gaster stood, taking the bin of scrap parts with him. He lifted the door open, and stepped outside.

"Preparations are nearly complete. You may wait here until the machine is ready." He paused, and then added, "After we reach the surface, you'll be one of the few souls collected. Meaning in a sense, you will be one of the only human souls left to 'survive' the upcoming war... This really is your best option."

Gaster closed the door, and Purple was left in the empty room. He slumped down on the floor with his hands over his head.

_'Don't listen to him, he's nothing but a killing, lying creep! Come on, let's see… if there's a way out...'_

Purple didn't move. There was no point. He knew Gaster wouldn't shut him in a room with anything he could use to escape-- and that other creature was sealed away for good this time.

Chara didn't push him, and they sat down by his side.

There wasn't any avoiding it.

It was just a matter of counting down the clock.

Purple began to snicker.

_'What?'_

Purple looked up from his hands with a bitter smile.

"Character?"

_'Oh, give me a break.'_

"Did your parents hate you or something?"

Chara folded their arms and tossed their head. _'Tch. Sometimes it felt that way.'_

"...Do you want to talk about it?"

_'No... Not now.'_

"Oh, okay," Purple shrugged and slouched over again. "You can just tell me tomorrow... heh."

_'Purple...'_

"What? I'm dying. Can't I joke about it...?" His voice broke at the end, and he lost composure.

"I'm going to die miles beneath the Earth's surface, away from everyone I know and love, and no one's even going to remember that I ever _existed_!"

Tears streamed down his face like a ruddy fountain. He didn't bother to wipe off his glasses.

_'I'll... remember you.'_

Purple shook his head sadly. "You'll forget...."

_'Blue, Orange, and… Cyan. It takes more than that to erase MY memories.,'_ Chara placed a hand gingerly on Purple's shoulder. _'Look, you aren’t just some kid against an unbeatable army-- this is YOU and ME against Gaster. I won't leave you alone in this... I promise.'_

Purple placed his hand on top of Chara's. It was still shaky, but it held on with steadfast gratitude.

  
_______

 

[FINAL ENTRY]

-There comes a point in time where you don't think you can go on, and eventually that will be true. Eventually, everything will stop, and it can fill others with immeasurable **despair**. But you can't go back, so you continue forward. Just because you know your life will end, even if it ends in a gruesome **slaughter** , you don't give up before then, do you? No, you don't call it quits from the start just because you know how it ends. G-_** is going to put me through some kind of machine, and I know it will be a **success**. Assuming the entire journal doesn't become **corrupt** from erasure, I wanted to leave this final entry behind. A message to anyone after me: Relish in your **freedom**. Although you have fallen into a precarious situation, there will _always_ be someone to offer some form of sanctuary and **protect** ion. It could be anyone from a goofy tortoise, to a nagging old woman, or even a ghost that tries to kill you when you first meet. So try and show **mercy** to people you don't understand. But if you struggle to find a person like that, think back to the ones you **love**. Don't trick yourself into wondering if they care. **Kindness** has a funny way of reaching even the coldest of souls.

-I can hear his footsteps getting close. It's almost time for me to go. So above all else, I want you to always remember--

-Even when you’ve run out of determination, keep on persevering. Just because there is cause to drown in sorrow, doesn’t mean you don’t have _hope_.

_______

Purple clutched the notebook against his chest as Gaster steered him through the hall with a hand on his back.

The room was stark white, like it had never been used before. Several screens lined the wall with lights blinking rapidly, and there was a table equipped with straps. But the most commanding presence in the room by far was the machine hung over the table.

The moment Purple caught sight of it, every instinct he had demanded him to run.

It was a ghastly shell shaped to resemble a deer skull, but with ruthless pincers extending from the jaw. The metal was smooth and undamaged, yet it held the color of dried blood, giving it the rusted appearance of being tainted by time.

Purple felt like he was being drawn in by the hollowed sockets, eyeless gaps pulsating with soul energy. The soul canisters themselves were nestled at the side, long thick tubes latching them onto it. He couldn't look away from it. It spelled his death, clear as liquid. His legs ceased to respond, and buckled beneath him.

Gaster held Purple upright with a hand under his arm. He gestured to the machine with grand flourish. "And here we are! A machine designed to strike fear into bravery itself! There is nothing better suited for extracting determination."

"Ex...tract?"

Purple felt his glasses lift off of his face, and his notebook slide out of his weakened grasp.

"You have been rather helpful during you time here. In return for your cooperation, I assure you, I will lessen the pain as much as possible."

Gaster hefted Purple toward the extractor, and every inch of Purple's body recoiled in abject terror. He felt if he got any closer, his life would be sucked out from its presence alone.

The machine waited with an open mouth.

"Now, now, Perseverance. You want this to be done quickly, don't you? All that is left is to purge you of your impurity."

Gaster lifted Purple into the air and held him down on the table. Purple twisted under the straps that wound around him by blue magic, and he soon became paralyzed like a fly in a web.

He screwed his eyes shut tight, knowing he lay directly beneath the beast's gaping maw. A noise escaped his throat, but it sounded nothing like him.

“…Try not to die before the extraction is complete. I do not want to have to hunt down any stray remnants. I’ve had enough games with this miserable creature.”

Chara pried an eye open to stare at Gaster.

_’Is he… trying to extract ME?!’_

Gaster's finger poised itself over a large switch.

"We’ll speak again soon."

The machine's jaws snapped shut, encasing Purple in its metal shell.

There was no echo, no sound at all except Purple's heavy breathing. The machine purred to life, and Chara detached themselves partially, taking in what Purple did not wish to see. Purple's soul was drawn out casting a violet glow in the dark casket. Metal rods, thin as needles descended from the beast's throat and surrounded the shivering soul.

_'Purple...'_ Chara warned.

"Don't tell me..." Purple trembled quietly. "Just don't tell me."

The rods split open at the ends, and latched onto his soul. They hissed with electricity, and the cracks from his fall into the Underground pulsed red.

His soul was split open, and he gasped in shock. The rods held the soul pieces apart, but kept them close enough as to not break the soul completely.

Chara felt every inch of themselves turn numb, and then from numb to stinging.

Red was seeping out from the openings, and electricity sparked around it. It drifted upward into the throat.

"Ch....ar....a.... lea...ve."

_'No!'_ Chara grasped Purple's icy hand in theirs. More red drifted upward, and their consciousness was starting to turn foggy. _'I won't leave you!'_

"...hhhh....hhn..."

It was easy enough to say, but as the determination drained upward in crimson blobs, Chara could feel even their ghostly form become drawn into the depths of the mouth.

Chara was fading.

They would both die.

Chara tries to pull the red back into the soul, but nothing would stop it. Nearly half of it was already gone.

They were powerless to prevent yet another tragedy.

Helpless.

Powerless.

Chara hated the feeling. As cold and rigid as their false body hardened, their seething hatred for their cruel fate burned white hot.

_'So you want my determination, do you?'_ Chara detached from Purple completely, diving into the beast's gullet.

_'You're gonna get it!'_

Chara refused to give in to death, and sent all the remaining red upward at once. Chara felt like they were made of concrete, and they aimed the red at the rods with full force.

No effect.

Chara cursed, and more red slipped from their grasp. They attacked the pulsating tubes that lined the innards of the machine.

They cracked a hairline fracture.

The machine was still running, and Chara attempted to grasp Purple's paled hand once more to let him know they were still there. They found themselves unable to move downward anymore. They could only float upward as the machine took them.

Tiny globs of blue, orange, and cyan sputtered from the fractured tubes. Oddly enough, there were some yellow blobs too. They all bumped into each other, casting a mosaic of color over Purple's grayed face.

One of the blue blobs floated higher than the others, colliding with a red one. They mixed to form a striking shade of Magenta.

The liquid energy dripped into the cracks of the violet soul. The rods sparked violently, but Purple had long since fallen to unconsciousness.

The machine roared on, and Chara couldn't move at all. They could only watch as they were pulled farther and farther from Purple.

_'Guess it ends here then, huh? Well... we sure gave it a Hell of a try...'_

They watched the blobs. The magenta one drifted downward again, like it was held by a sudden weight. It bumped into two other blobs- cyan and yellow. And then...

Everything went **black**.

 

_______

 

Chara wasn't quite sure what had happened. One moment they were in the machine clinging to existence, the next, they were merged fully with Purple, convulsing on the floor of the destroyed lab.

The harsh light was piercing in comparison to the insurmountable darkness they had just witnessed, and they coughed up something like oil onto the tile. Purple was somewhat aware of his surroundings. Mostly the fact that his body felt like it had been dipped in acid. His chest especially felt like it was being run through with a blade, over and over.

The machine lay distraught in smoldering pieces. The lab had been completely destroyed with monitors cracked and doors blown off their hinges.

"So... you survived, after all," a voice coughed in the smoky haze. "You didn't inform me your demon could act outside of your body... Now you've gone and contaminated your soul with Magenta's Karma effect. Not to mention what the Emptiness did to my poor machine."

Purple tried to refocus his vision, lamenting at his inability to see before he realized his glasses were still missing. He flailed an ashen hand uselessly against the floor to try and find them.

"You're HP is depleting rapidly... You're dying." The voice got closer. "You are still tainted by determination, but I suppose it cannot be helped at this point. Do not move- I will guide you from this world."

Footsteps approached, and Purple took short, rapid breaths. He struggled to raise his throbbing body into a sitting position. Someone was standing in front of him, but he was too disoriented to discern whom.

There was a sound like the crackle of magic, and the figure in front of him held something like an orange dagger.

Purple recalled that something bad would happen if he didn't move away from the Orange object. He strained to stand, but his legs wouldn't hold his weight. He slumped gasping on the floor, watching the figure close in.

The figure aimed the dagger shaped object at Purple's head, and plunged it forward.

Purple didn't move, nor did he have any time to flinch.

Yet the object passed through all the same.

Purple blinked up at the figure, the jagged bone phasing through his forehead. His mind was starting to clear, and he remembered where he was.

"...Impossible," Gaster drew back the bone and swung it. It phased through Purple again. "Your statistics are practically negligible! It couldn't be... that status effect I dismissed..."

"Invulnerability…"

Purple had no idea what Gaster was talking about, but it didn't matter. He made a dive for the back of the machine, several bullets being fired through him, undamaging. He found and re-equipped his now cracked glasses. He made a grab for his notebook, but felt gravity drag him back to the floor.

Gaster stood over him, hand blazing blue. "Just because I can't harm you, doesn't mean I can't keep you pinned until the ability wears off." He laughed, but there was a note of irritation in his gravelly voice. "So you are able to avoid attacks after being hurt, yet the Karma effect is hurting you continually-- A perfectly impenetrable defense!”

“...As long as you have HP to burn."

Gaster forced his hand downward so that Purple would've been crushed if not for the ability. No matter how hard he tried, Purple couldn't escape the hold of gravity. He found himself backed up against the ruins of the machine.

"At your level, I'd say you have less than forty-four seconds before you are reduced to one HP and the INV wear off." Gaster threw Purple a pitying smile. "I'll finish you off faster than you can blink."

Purple scrambled back, nails clawing at the floor to gain any distance from Gaster. He clung to a sliver of metal that was embedded into the floor, and caught a glint of something beneath the wreckage. He reached for it with all his might.

"Why even try?" Gaster approached. "You will die no matter what you do, that much is certain. Just close your eyes and I will take care of the rest."

Purple gritted his teeth and touched the Blue soul's canister.

Gaster saw the canister, and immediately released his hold on Purple, withdrawing like a snake had almost bitten him.

Purple found that he was able to stand. He actually felt lighter than normal, and he drew the canister close to his heart. The soul glowed warmly in response.

_What's the matter, Doc? Afraid the other kid you killed will be upset and take your magic?_

But he had no time to say this, and evaded Gaster's hands as he dashed out the destroyed doorway. Gaster wasn't far behind, storming briskly with bullets ready.

_Chara, are you there? I need a way out!_

_'I'm here! I remember an elevator being that way, but won't it just be locked?'_

Purple was already sprinting down the described hallway, and Gaster's bullets filled the hall like a wall of fire closing in.

The elevator came into sight. Its light was on!

But Purple was brought to a screeching halt when the floor came to an end, dropping straight down to magma. The elevator lay across the other side, freedom just out of his grasp. His body felt weak, like he was made of glass.

"Well! That certainly was something." Gaster strode down the hall. If the hundreds of bullets he held wasn't enough, he had gathered several surgical knives and saws to him with his magic. "Who would've thought perseverance infected with determination would be so tiresome to kill?"

Purple saw no way of dodging around the man, and backed up to the edge of the drop. He glanced hopelessly at the taunting elevator.

"Look at you, persevering without any benefit whatsoever. It's pathetic. I'd give you until the count of ten to come quietly, but you're already down to five..."

Purple grasped the soul canister tightly, knowing it wouldn't be able to get him across the gap. Nothing could get across a gap that size.

"Four..."

It was a cruel trap. It was to be expected for there to be magma, as this had to be the lowest point in the entire underground, but there was no reason to install an elevat--

...

The lowest possible point in the Underground.

"Three..."

Purple took a step back, off the edge of the drop.

Gaster ceased counting.

Purple’s foot was pushed back upward as if repelled by a magnet.

He ran across the bottom of the barrier and slammed his fist into the call button.

The door opened without delay, but the wall of bullets and knives had been sent hurtling through Purple's body. The first wave was fired a split second too soon, and passed harmlessly through. The straggling knives on the other hand, had to be dodged, and Purple ducked behind the elevator wall, thumb pressing hard on the button for the top floor. He felt exposed and weak as the invulnerability wore off. He wobbled to stay upright, knowing it would take just a single hit for him to collapse dead on the floor.

Gaster advanced on the door, sending bullets whizzing through the opening, and denting the exterior of the elevator when it had been tightly shut.

The elevator began to move upward.

Purple slumped against the sidewall, heaving heavy breaths. _Nearly there_. He needed to think of someplace to run or hide when he got out, but he would only ever run as far as the length of the barrier. The dismal feeling of being trapped in the enclosure of the barrier allowed Purple to better understand the monsters desperation to escape.

But he had made it this far, hadn't he? There was no way he was going to give up now.

"Where's the elevator lead out?" Purple wheezed.

_'There was a lab in Hotland. I think it let's out--'_

The elevator jerked upward, then slowed its ascent to a crawl with a loud screech.

Purple wobbled briefly before his legs gave out, and he crumpled to the floor.

The elevator shone blue, and was pulled back down, metal scraping against metal.

"No!"

Purple flailed a limp hand at the elevator buttons, but the machine could not compete with the Gaster's magic. The room was descending rapidly now. It was only a matter of time.

He cursed himself silently. He should’ve known better than to get his hopes up. He would never get away from Gaster. His soul was doomed to be swallowed by the demented doctor.

Purple hugged the glass cylinder in his arms and backed up against the wall. It still glowed at him, bright as a star.

"Heh," Purple sniffled, even though the tears no longer came. He tugged at the top of the soul's canister. "If I can't get out... think you can be free for the both of us?"  
He twisted the lid off, and the soul hovered in the open air, floating upward until it bounced off the ceiling.

"Right... I guess you can't leave the elevator either... But it was a nice thought...."

The elevator screamed to a stop.

Purple closed his eyes, hoping Gaster wouldn't tease him anymore. He just wanted to get it over with.

The elevator shivered and shook, and jolted hard enough that Purple was bounced into the air. He opened his eyes again to stare.

The blue soul was pushing against the ceiling of the elevator, the whole room straining like a game of tug-of-war.

The blue that coated the surrounding walls was quickly drained away, receding into the soul itself. Once the final spot of blue had left the room, Purple was shot immediately upward at a break neck speed. He crouched on the floor against the force.

The elevator burst open at the top floor, and Purple tumbled out into a lab of very startled scientists. They gawked at him, his appearance unsightly as it was.

"Are you... okay?" A scientist with large tusks offered a hand.

Purple didn't take it. His eyes landed on the door, wide open.

"Who _are_ you?" A scalier monster inquired. "Do you have clearance to be here-- Wait, is that a sou-- Ompf!"

Purple pushed his way past the crowd of scientists, tripping over himself way to the exit.

There was no time.

His body moved like an iron weight without the blue soul in his arms.

He barely made it out the door before he found he couldn't walk anymore.

He fell down to the warm rock of Hotland, coughing and gasping as something trailed down his chin.

Why was his vision blurry? He was wearing his glasses. He wanted to see now that he wasn't surrounded by cold sterile walls. He felt the dirt under his palm, and smiled faintly between strangled coughs.

He had made it.

_______

 

"Out of my way. There is nothing to see here, return to your work."

"But sir, shouldn't we call a healer?"

Gaster approached the faint heap on the ground. Chara watched, unable to move any part of Purple's limp body.

"Nonsense. That is a human. We are under order of the king's law to let it die."

"A human? Sir... are you sure? I mean no disrespect, but its so--"

“Weak, yes. I am aware. Step aside… Thank you.”

Gaster’s soot-covered shoes planted themselves in front of Chara’s view.

“None of you are to report this to the king. Any who do will be—“

"Now hold on just one second."

Chara couldn't move to see who was speaking, but they knew they recognized the voice.

"Care to explain what you're doing with a soul, and a human child in the first place? And what happened to you? You look like you were caught in an explosion or something.”

"I was researching the souls with the intentions of finding alternatives to destroying the barrier. That human volunteered to assist me in hopes that his soul would not be stolen. He tried to escape with the Integrity soul when he realized his fate was unavoidable."

"...Is that right?" There was a heavy sigh, and the hobble of Gerson's slow tortoise steps as he leaned in to get a closer look at Purple's crumpled frame. "Looks like he's been through Hell and back. You're telling me that this kid’s endured experimentation, managed to get his hands on a human soul, break out of a top security facility, and escape your magic-- only to die at the front door of the lab?"

"This human was... rather clever in comparison to those who had fallen in the past... What is your purpose here, Gerson?"

"I got an anonymous call the other day asking me to find a kid wearing glasses and carrying a notebook. Now, my memory's pretty hit or miss, but I thought I'd seen someone like that a while back. They didn't say why they didn't come looking for him themselves, or that the kid was human, only that he'd gotten into trouble and needed me to pick him up. They sounded like they'd die of heartbreak if I'd refused, so I've been lookin' ever since."

"Well there's only one place for him to go now."

"Right... So I'll be taking him and the souls back to Asgore."

" _I beg your pardon?_ "

"There wasn't an alternate way to break the barrier-- that's what you said you were researching, right? You won't be needing them anymore."

"You've misunderstood, I am **not done with them**."

The blue soul drifted down, resting by Purple's cheek.

"One of them nearly got stolen today—it’s time for them to return to the King. That is unless, you want the guard to come pick them up and search for _any other signs of suspicious activity_..."

" **T H A T...** " Gaster cleared his throat with a gruff cough. "...That won't be necessary... I will deliver the body--."

"I'll take the kid from here, Dings."

"Gerson, really--"

"Yes, G*ster. Really."

"...Well--” One of the shoes took a swift step forward, but stepped back again after some thought.

“Well?”

“Yes. Very well… I will allow the king to hold onto them for the time being…”

A cold tension hung in the air, and the sound of clicking shoes stormed away with more force than usual.

Gerson let out a snort of defiance. “You’ll allow it huh?...” he whispered after Gaster had gone.

"Uh, Gerson, is it?" One of the on looking scientists spoke up. "This was in the elevator."

Gerson grunted in gratitude, and knelt within Chara's view to scoop the blue soul into the canister. "I guess you two will have to share a canister for the time being. Sorry 'bout that."

Gerson moved to summon Purple's soul, but drew back as he noticed his shallow breaths.

"My God... you're still fighting even now...."

Instead of reaching for Purple's soul prematurely, Gerson brushed the hair out of his face with his scaly hands.

"Easy now... Easy..."

Gerson' voice was old and soothing, and he spoke gentle words of comfort as he rested a hand on Purple’s back.

The words grew quieter and quieter, fading until Chara could no longer hear them.

**[FILE ERASED]**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil" Hebrews 6:19 (KJV)
> 
> He's dying, no he's fine--No he's actually going to die, whoops false alarm--BUT WAIT... yep, there he goes. Purple was very fun to write, but it's time we get out of the lab.
> 
> If anyone's curious, I write a lot of these chapters with my phone and use the different colored heart emojis to organize stuff. : )
> 
> Up Next: Reaching the coldest of souls


	20. My Complimentary’s To The Chef

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chara still has Gaster on the mind, and the new kid isn't sure how to handle it. Perhaps it's time for a different approach?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, everyone! I just wanted to let you all know that I'm drawing a comic titled THE SIX WHO FELL BEFORE YOU. It will be centered around all six souls falling down at once. The first page should be up on my Deviantart page later this evening. The story will take several elements from this one, such as the characters themselves, but the ending will be different, and the focus is around the souls themselves rather than Chara or Gaster. If you like my interpretation of the souls, please feel free to check it out HERE: http://passionrising.deviantart.com/art/TSWFBY-Cover-662925026
> 
> Without further ado, please enjoy the chapter!~

Chara woke up and wanted to scream.

He woke up to a warm spring breeze caressing his cheek.

It seemed too early in the morning for it to be this warm, and Chara figured it must've been late in the season.

What a beautiful day to fall down a hole and die.

The kid took in his surroundings, and plucked a flower from the earth. He turned it over in his hands for a moment before stuffing it into his pocket. Chara inspected his appearance as he rummaged through the flowers for his scattered belongings.

Now Chara could rationalize the idea of a young child climbing up a mountain equipped with nothing but a tutu, but this kid wasn't so young. _'...What good is it bringing a frying pan to a mountain?'_

It didn't take Toriel long to find him. She was on her way to check if anyone had fallen down, and spotted him before he could duck behind a pillar.

"Hello, young one."

The new kid peeked out. Toriel was sitting on the ground with empty hands palms up. "Do not be afraid. I will do you no harm."

Chara felt a tug in their chest, and longed to run into her arms. They wanted to embrace her, to be able to feel like everything would be all right, that the whole thing was just another bad dream that they could awake from.

But the time for that had passed long ago.

Toriel couldn’t comfort Chara, and Chara couldn’t comfort Toriel.

The kid, at least, seemed to understand he was not in danger for the time, and emerged with his freckled cheeks flushed pink.

"....H-hi...."

  
_______

 

The kid wasn’t so quick to leave the Ruins, and accompanied Toriel on her daily routines. He was quiet at first, mainly communicating with a nod or expression, but after a few days he began to open up more and more. Toriel’s smile shined whenever he spoke. She much preferred a response to her one-sided conversations. Otherwise, she might’ve felt like the child was a figment of her imagination.

Chara could relate.

_'Just kill something already. If something goes wrong, I need to be able to guide you.'_

The kid activated the save point by the house, and had yet to make use of it’s true power. But he hadn’t even _encountered_ another monster in battle. Gaster must've known Chara had risen again by now. Either he wasn't desperate enough to attack the Ruins, or he had died of old age waiting for the next human. There might even be a trap waiting right outside the Ruins door. But at the same time... What if he had gotten ahold of the souls in Chara's absence? Should Chara risk the new kid’s life to find out? Or keep him safe without ever knowing if Purple and... and...

Purple, Blue, Orange, Cyan.

_Purple, Blue, Orange, Cyan._

Don't forget.

Please don't forget....

"What's monster candy made of?" The child asked as Toriel refilled the candy bowl for the younger monsters in the Ruins. "Is it made of other monsters?"

Toriel laughed good-heartedly. "No no, of course not, silly! The candy is made of sugar, flavoring, and magic. Monster food is rarely made from meat of any kind." She placed a finger to he chin in thought. "Well... aside from snails and spiders, that is."

The child shuddered. "Then I'm happy to say that I'm a vegetarian."

Toriel laughed softly and deposited a generous amount of candy into the new kid's hand. "Here. It is a distinctly non-snail, non-licorice flavor. When I was a young girl, which was a very long time ago mind you, I would visit a sweets shop with fancy lettering on the sign-- That is how you knew it was the good stuff. It inspired me to try baking something on my own."

Toriel did most of the talking each day, and it seemed the new kid was either shy, overly compliant, or both. Even so, the contrast of the compassionate atmosphere was as jarring a transition as lava was to ice. It was almost normal, the way they on with their pleasant conversation. No threats. No needles. No machines…

Chara could barely process how they could carry on like nothing had happened. They wondered if Purple would've been able to adjust if he had made it back here... They wished they could've found out.

"Oh! But listen to this old woman ramble. I'd like to hear more about you, if you are willing."

"O-oh. Okay. What do you want to know?" The child fidgeted somewhat bashfully with his apron.

"Since you will be living here, it would be good for me to know your favorite foods. Do you prefer cinnamon or butterscotch?"

New kid made a face, and Chara was bombarded with his rampant thoughts-- listing pros and cons of both flavors, and which he liked better on what. Chara offered a thought of their own to see if it would stick-- _Just pick one._

"Both," he said, nodding with certainty.

"Both?" Toriel was taken aback.

"Yes, the two flavors compliment each other rather well... Er. In my opinion, that is. Whatever you think is best!" He waved his hands like he was worried he had offended the gentle woman.

"Both..." Toriel placed a claw to her lip and considered the suggestion. "I think you are right. They _would_ taste quite delicious together, wouldn't they? Yes, I think I shall try something new for tonight."

"Baking? I can help with that!" New kid held up his frying pan with a sparkle in his eye. "May I, please?"

"But of course, my child! I could not be happier any other way." Toriel smiled like the sun at the thought of having someone by her side. She was hopeful that the child was so willing to stay with her.

She was probably thinking-- Hey, maybe this one won't die. How wonderful!

Chara knew better.

"All right then! It is settled. Come, let us return home." Her bright smile contrasted her circumstances, as if it could deny reality itself. Or maybe her memory had been purposefully misplaced.

New kid trotted behind her, swinging the pan by his side. He didn't even see the Vegetoid he stepped on.

It let up, releasing a wicked cackle, summoning the green soul into being. Toriel whipped around, but she was much slower than the veggie-shaped bullets. Green swung up his pan to defend himself.

The edge of the pan made sharp contact with the monster’s face.

One accidental hit. That's all it took.

_’Finally.’_

He was strong.

He was _very_ strong.

Toriel and Green watched the monster fade into dust, horror on both their faces. The façade was broken, and Green dropped his pan to the ground.

"M-- my child...!I-it was an accident! I know you did not mean for this..."

But how do you comfort a child when they’ve just inadvertently taken someone’s life?

"That was another person... I j-just..."

Toriel knelt down to cup his shoulder in her paws. "Look at me, now. You need not feel like this was your fault. I will take responsibility. Everything will be all right. I will take care of it."

This... would be a problem. He wouldn’t gain any LV if he was this opposed to kill. And if he didn't gain LV...

Chara sighed internally. _'You won’t last a second. It's not like my hopes were all that high to begin with. Maybe the next kid--'_

"NO!!" Green dug his nails into his hair, and caved in on himself.

Then he did something that took Chara by surprise.

He reset without even knowing of their existence.

_______

 

"Nonono--no-- _no_! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

_'Hey dummy, you can hear me, right? Open your eyes.'_

Green obeyed the strange voice and saw the crisp leaves of Toriel's home crunch beneath his feet. He was nowhere near the candy room, and Toriel was nowhere in sight.

"W--what...? How..?"

_'Green, huh? That was his favorite color, wasn't it? Should've known-- you're a crybaby just like he was...'_

Green spun around multiple times, trying to locate the voice. "Who--"

_'Ugh. I guess I’ll have to explain everything… AGAIN. I’ll only have to do it twice more anyways...'_

Chara debriefed Green as best they could, and was surprised at how they were able to gloss over the fates of the previous children. Were they finally numb, or were they just suppressing it again? It really was a struggle to actively try and remember the memories that would only leave them feeling forlorn.

_'--So yeah, basically. You can either try and stay here forever (which has never worked), or you can grind for LV to try and take on Gaster... It didn't go so well last time, but he shouldn't have any more color magic at his disposal... or maybe Gerson's a boss monster? I don't really have anything against him, but--'_

"No." It seemed Green could speak with confidence after all. "I'm not letting you hurt anyone."

Chara snorted at the remark. _'ME? Look kid, I grow stronger depending on how much LV you've got, and you just undid the only kill you've gained so far. I can't do anything so long as you don't have the guts. Well... I'm sure you're guts will be just as visible if you keep going on like this.'_

That came across meaner than Chara intended, but if the kid wasn't going to kill, they needed to make sure he was prepared to die for that choice.

"I don't need to _kill_ people to stay alive! I won't let you!"

_'Wha--... I'm trying to HELP you! I'm not going to MAKE you do anything... that... that would only make things worse. I'm not the bad guy here! You need to be ABSOLUTELY sure about your own choices. '_

Green bunched his apron into his hands. “Then… I’m sure. I don’t want to kill anyone. That’s my choice.”

Chara became quiet. They really didn’t want to repeat their last life. Purple had the willpower of a stubborn ox, but this kid… If Gaster got ahold of someone so soft… They didn’t want to think about it.

“Okay… I don’t really think I’m cut out for this… but I’ll try to help in anyway I can.”

_’You’re right. You’re not cut out for this. You’re just another random kid. Who’s going to care if some stranger dies? You’re just a soul to them. A means to an end. A THING.’_

“Well… The monsters here aren’t all that mean—they only attacked because I stepped on them, and Toriel doesn’t see me as a thing at all.”

_’The monsters don’t attack because they’re either scared of her or don’t even remember what a human LOOKS like. And don’t get me started on Toriel.’_

“Then the monsters are the ones who don’t understand. Have you tried showing them that we aren’t really all that different? Maybe… try being nice?”

_’…You’re joking. You want to befriend your killers? That’s suicide.’_

Green shook his head, curls of hair falling over his eyes. “Violence is an endless cycle unless someone chooses not to fight. I can’t do to them what they’d do to me.”

_’So, what? Are you going to leave the Ruins at level one?…If anyone recognizes you as human… I don’t need to tell you what’ll happen.’_

“Now that I know you’re here, I can’t just ignore all that you’ve suffered… And I need to get these flowers to my Mom.”

_’And there it is! Right on schedule!’_

“I’m sorry?”

_’Just like all the others—something goes wrong and you start whining about your family or something on the surface. Gosh, I sure wish I had someone like that! Oh wait— They’re all dead! Do you have ANY idea what it feels like to have you all ranting about how your families loved you SO MUCH when all I have left is broken up parents and some kid who I just met?!’_

“…Yes.” Green’s expression turned serious, then somewhat confused. “You see me as family?”

_’Whether I want it or not, you kids are all I’ve got left… Every one of you,’_ Chara grumbled under their breath. _’I don’t care what choices you make, just don’t make me watch you suffer. Do yourself a favor and hold onto that frying pan.’_

Green nodded solemnly. “I’ll do what I can to face this head on. For now, I should tell Toriel goodbye.”

 

_______

 

“You cannot… I will not lose another one!”

“I can’t stay. I’m… I’m sorry, but I have someplace to be.”

“I will not allow it!”

Toriel blocked the exit with her arms spread wide. Green held his pan in front of him, blocking the sparks sent to drive him back up the stairs.

“You can’t just keep me here! Toriel, _please_! I have to go!”

Toriel fought back tears, but did not cease the onslaught of sparks. She offered a wavering smile. “I am doing this for _you_. I know we do not know each other all that well, but I truly think that we can grow to be a family together. This is your best option!”

**”In a sense, you will be one of the only human souls left to 'survive' the upcoming war... This really is your best option.”**

Chara flinched, and somehow found their voice.

“So you’ll do anything to keep me for yourself, huh? …So why didn’t you come for him?”

Toriel dropped her arms slightly, squinting at Green like he was a blur. “M—My child?”

“He _called_ for you. Why didn’t you come?” Chara took a step forward with the pan raised. They felt something like tears roll down their face. “Things might’ve been different if you had just gone to the lab like he told you, or if you had confronted Dad, or done _anything_ on your own! You’re just as bad as Dad! Or are you trying to keep me prisoner like Gaster is? _Is that it, Mom_? Do you think isolating yourself from the world frees you from its consequences?!”

Toriel dropped her arms completely and back away from Chara.

“Ch… Ch-r **a**?”

Chara blinked as if suddenly aware of what they were doing. They dropped their arms and backed away, but Toriel’s eyes were locked into theirs, hazy and flooding with water.

She crumpled to the floor. “Ch_r _a_ … Asriel… [Cyan], [Orange], [Blue], [Purple], [Green}… My family….” She sobbed, hands clutching her face. “My babies… My poor babies….”

Chara reached out a hand toward her.

Then drew back again.

“Green… I’m resetting.”

_______

 

Green peered around the corner into the kitchen. Toriel was preparing some kind of stew, humming serenely as she had been moments before Green had tried to tell her goodbye.

“She’s okay now. You can calm down.”

_’...Yeah… No sense in getting all choked up over something that isn’t remembered, right?’_ Chara laughed bitterly at themselves. _’Do I think I’M above the consequences? Just… erasing everything like that? Gaster was right again. Bad things always happen to those who get close to me… Let’s not tell her we’re leaving. That might be the kindest thing we can do.’_

“If… that’s what you want.”

Green waited for Toriel to leave the kitchen, smiling at her as she passed by. She smiled back, looking like this was the happiest she’d been in a long time. Green stood on the tips of his toes to ladle the stew into a thermos. He was nearly done when Toriel had returned, startling him into spilling some of the stew onto the floor.

“Oh! You do not need to store any food away. I will gladly make you more whenever you ask, dear.”

Green knelt to wipe up the mess, flustered and stuttering. “I-I was just… um…”

Toriel frowned with concern, and knelt down with him. “If it will make you feel more comfortable, then I shall not stop you.” She reached for the ladle and filled the thermos all the way to the top. Once that was done, she lit a small flame at the tip of her finger. It lifted into the air before splashing into the thermos with the stew.

“There now! That should keep it nice and warm.” Toriel screwed the lid on, and handed the container back to Green, giving him a pat on the head as she did. “Do let me know if you are in need of anything else… all right?”

She left the kitchen again, and Green felt the guilt eat away at him.

He quietly descended the stairs to the basement.

“Chara?” he called as he walked. Chara grunted in response.

“About the face you made… when you got upset at Toriel.”

_’Yes, I have a hideously horrific smile. Thanks for pointing it out.’_

“N-no, that’s not it. The liquid that came out of my eyes—“

_’Tears?’ Heh, yeah. Guess I’m not as numb as I wished I was. Kinda weird that I had that much control over you at this level though…’_

“Chara…” Green paused in the middle of the corridor, staring into the darkness. “It was black.”

Chara froze.

_’…Are you sure? It wasn’t just the lighting or anything?’_

Green nodded.

Chara looked at the ceiling and laughed quietly.

_’What have you done to me now, old man?’_

______

 

Green stepped out of the dark Ruins halls and into the snowy forest. There was a slight chill in the air, but it wasn't too horribly cold. He craned his head back, and found that he couldn't see the tops of the trees as they stretched towards the cavernous ceiling. It was an ominous yet beautiful sight against the twinkling snowflakes.

The plan (if you could call it that) was to set up camp somewhere near (but not too near) town. If things went well, Green hoped he could befriend the townsfolk without being discovered, and get some monsters on his side. Asgore might not be so quick to attack if his people saw the child as a friend.

With Chara guiding his path, he was soon within a fair distance of Snowdin. There were plenty of hollowed trees around, and Green looked over each one to see if any of them would shield him from the weather. In the end, he decided to set his bag down in a small alcove at the side of a cliff. Not too big, not too small, and somewhat warmer than he expected.

Green unpacked the bag and looked over the items: Two blankets, two pieces of monster candy, his frying pan, and the thermos full of stew.

_'That's it? No money, tools, or even a flashlight? You could at least TRY to survive.'_

Green's cheeks tinged pink beneath his curls. "I felt bad about taking Toriel's things..."

_'That's not NEARLY enough food to keep up with the pace you're going at.'_

"It... might be."

_'No. Believe me, I know what the bare minimum is for keeping someone alive. That's it. I'm calling this off. Maybe Toriel will let you back in...'_

"I can't just go back!" Green stood in opposition, knocking his head into the top of the alcove. His face turned even pinker, and he rubbed at the newly formed bump. "Let me try just once!"

_'Do whatever you want. I'll do my best to remember you when you're gone...'_

Green stuffed the loot back into his bag, leaving the blankets behind. He plodded through the snow with passionate verve in the direction of the village.

He was, in fact, a little _too_ eager. He slipped on a patch of ice, and was sent tumbling down a hill through the dirt and snow, coming to a halt at the edge of town.

_'Smooth, rookie. Real smooth.'_

Green spat pine needles onto the disturbed snow, and raised his head to meet a large, canine snout.

Best dog had arrived to investigate the scene!

_'Crap--crap! Run away before she bites!'_

Green let out a squeak, and buried his face back into the snow. Best sniffed vigorously around him, tousling his hair with her nose. She let out a small whine, and then a hefty bark.

Green peeked through his fingers, and saw the massive dog bounding away towards a group of smaller dogs. Chara noted that there were several more dogs than they remembered.

_'Guess you don't smell like a human... Or she's just too old to smell right anymore.'_

Green stood and dusted the snow off his pants. "Well... I think that's a relief?" He was suddenly self-conscious about the way he smelled.

What made him even _more_ self-conscious was the other monsters that had witnessed his graceless display.

"Chara..." Green whispered and shuffled his feet. "They're all staring at me..."

_'They don't know what a human is. Just wave and stop looking nervous.'_

Green tried to put on a friendly smile, and waved with slight laugh.

One of the younger monsters waved back, but several others turned to each other and started whispering.

"Chara..."

_'Okay... Stay calm. Play it safe and hide out in that building.'_

Green stuffed his hands into his pockets and spun on his heel, trying to look like he knew where he was going.

He pushed his way into the building and bumped into a burly, snaggletoothed amphibian monster. It gurgled something unintelligible at Green.

"S-sorry! Excuse me..."

He stepped around the monster as it exited the building. To add fuel to Green's unease, even more eyes fell onto him. They were all seated around tables and at a counter, eyes boring into the stranger who didn't belong.

"Ch—Chara! This is a bar!" Green whispered under his breath.

"Hey!" Green flinched as a monster with curved horns loomed over him. "Ye gunna keep talking to yerself, or are ye gunna get out of the doorway?"

Green turned pale, muttering an inaudible 'sorry' as he sidestepped away from the exit.

His pulse quickened, and he slid into the nearest empty booth. Eyes were still on him. He kept his head down, sitting stiff as a board.

A grungy pair of monsters rose from their table and crossed the room, nearing Green with intent scowls.

Sweat gathered at Green's forehead, and he stood to make a break for the door.

A fist of matted hair slammed down on the booth's table.

"Heyy, kid..." The monster it belonged to spoke in a deep, slurred speech. "'Sss no place for toddlers to play..."

Green mouthed the word sorry, and tried to slip by the monster. A second monster blocked his way, leaning over the table with fangs like daggers protruding from his mouth.

"Sssssay," the monster hissed, flicking out a lizard like tongue. "I've never ssssseen a monssster like you before. What are you, sssome kind of hairlessss mutt?"

With no way out, Green backed up against his seat.

He could feel Chara's hatred boiling.

"Sayyy, if I didn't know any bedder..." The matted monster was getting uncomfortably close. "I'd sayyy..."

"Issss thissss what human looksss like??"

If any monsters in the bar weren't already audience to the scene, they were now.

"A human?! A human soul?!"

All at once, the bar was upon him, boxing him in without so much as a centimeter to move.

"Is it really the fifth?! We're so close!" Called someone from the back.

"Please, _please_ admit it! We _need_ this!" begged a rabbit monster who had gotten their face so close to Green's that they almost touched.

"Why are we just standing around?!" Roared a minotaur monster. "Take it to Asgore and let _him_ deal with it!"

"Yeah!!"

Green's hand twitched involuntarily for his bag, but his arms were seized by several hands, fins, paws, and claws.

The monsters began chanting rowdily in unison, tugging Green in every direction.

**"Remember the prince! Let us go free! Remember the prince! Let us go free!"**

_'Hang on! I'm going to rese--'_

"That. Is. _ENOUGH!_ "

A burst of light appeared from behind the mob. The crowd froze, and the chanting cut to dead silence. Green was held suspended in the air by his arms, and on the verge of hyperventilating.

"Put him down."

The grips on Green's arms slackened, but were unwilling to let go.

"Release my nephew _at once_! Or do you insist on playing with fire?"

A flame entity parted through the mass of scales and fur, and made his way to the table. He glared hotly at the first two monsters that were still grasping Green at the wrists.

"Gee, Grillbyyy... I know you don't normally talk much, but..."

"Prove it!" screeched the fanged monster. "Prove it'sss not a human! Ssssend out a bullet if you’re a real monsssster!"

"No monster would be able to produce bullets while being restrained like that," Grillby defended. "My nephew has severe pyrophobia-- he is afraid of his own magic, and keeps his body heat low. Release him."

"Excusssses, excussssses! Either make a bullet, or off to Assssgore with you!"

The monsters dropped Green onto the floor, and glared expectantly, ready to pounce again if Green should fail.

Green backed against the wall, and felt Chara's presence overtake him. Chara held Green's bag behind his back, and reached inside.

"Well?!"

A flickering spark floated out from Green's back. The flame from the thermos glowed faintly before snuffing out in the frigid air.

Every monster in the bar stood with mouths agape. Even Grillby looked surprised. Then He turned toward the mob in a heated anger.

"Satisfied? Look at yourselves." Grillby gestured towards overturned tables and broken glasses. "Is this really anyway to behave over a rumor spread by a pair of drunks? I'm closing up for the day-- please see yourselves out of my restaurant."

The monsters shuffled their feet, each of them murmuring or mumbling as the shimmied out the door. Green wanted to rush out of there himself, but was stopped by a warm tap on his shoulder.

Grillby placed a menu in Green's hands, and took a step back. "How may I serve you, today?"

_Chara, who is this guy?_

_'Dunno. I've never even heard of him before.'_

"You don't have to stay, if you really need to go, but it's on the house if you want to talk."

Green was hesitant to take the offer, but then drove the hesitation away as he remembered why he had left the Ruins in the first place. "I-if it's not too much trouble..."

"None at all."

Grillby led Green to the counter so they could speak while Grillby prepared a burger (which, like Toriel described, wasn’t made of real meat).

"Have you come to Snowdin by yourself? You seem awfully young to be out here on your own."

_'Tell him you were separated from your family,'_ Chara urged. _'Make sure he thinks people will be looking for you.'_

"I'm..." Green didn't see how hiding the truth was going to get him any closer to befriending the monster, especially since Grillby already knew very well that he was human.

"Yes, it's just me."

Grillby nodded, and handed the burger to Green. He rested his elbows on the counter and considered the situation.

"Will you be alright like this? Do you need a place to stay? Or food?"

Green nearly choked on his burger before shaking his head furiously. "No-- no! I'll be fine! You've done enough-- Oh! And thank you so much for your help... but..."

Green couldn't ignore the feeling like this was all going too easy for him. "...Why? Why would you be so nice to me when I'm..."

"You can't help what you are," Grillby smiled knowingly. “Never really liked that law. Had a customer come in one day-- a true hero! Or so the public declared him for delivering the fourth soul. Once the rest of the bar cleared out, he sat here in this very spot, eyes glassy as he unloaded the truth... I get a lot of odd customers these days, as it would seem."

Green nodded politely while Grillby, went on to describe the more interesting customers he'd had-- puzzle-loving maniacs, conspiracy theorists, the entire royal guard at once for a birthday party. Each story was crazier than the last. Chara listened too.

"Turned out, it wasn't even his birthday. He just wanted free desert." Grillby chuckled, sparks crackling off of him. He looked at Green with earnest concern as he finished the last of his burger. "You know... if you're planning on staying here, you'll need a way of buying supplies. I know you said you didn't want my help... but what if I asked for your help instead?"

Green blinked and drew a blank. "You're… offering me a job?"

"Is that a no?"

"No!-- I mean yes? I mean-- That would be great! But I've never had a job before. Are you sure?"

Grillby shrugged, which was about as sure as a person can get. "You’re too young to serve alcohol, but you can help me out with everything else. I'm sure you'll do just fine."

_'Serving fries to the people who just tried to kill us…Yeah. What could possibly go wrong?'_ Chara grumbled.

"You'll start tomorrow, but come early so you can eat something first."

"Yes! I will! Thank you again!"

Green hefted his bag (now packed with a to-go box of fries) over his shoulder, and gave Grillby a spirited wave farewell as he trotted out the door.

This was going better than he could've hoped!

The stray customer watching patiently from the shadows of the restaurant thought so too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you." Luke 6:28 (KJV)
> 
> Adding in some fluff and stuff to balance out the lab chapters... before things start to go wrong again, of course.
> 
> How would Undertale's flavor text describe your scents? Personally, I think I smell like dogs and electronics.
> 
> Up Next: Who was that mysterious stranger?!


	21. Tough Customers All Up In My Grill

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Green's first day on the job isn't exactly an easy one.

**"Did you really think I'd let you get away from me?"**

Green's scream reverberated off the cave walls, and his eyes immediately shot to the cave entrance. It was completetly open to the snowy wonderland. He could leave anytime. No one was around for miles.

He was perfectly safe.

_'Sooo if you had a choice between buying more blankets or a radio, which would you buy first?'_

"I'm going to have nightmares every night?" Green massaged his eyelids with his palms. "I have to go to work today..."

_'On the bright side, they make for a good alarm clock. Get your butt in gear, sleepyhead.'_

Green brushed out his bed hair with his fingers and looked around the cave. With no clothes to change into, and no means of washing up, he supposed all that was left to do was start walking. It was a little colder than it had been yesterday. Chara attempted a conversation as he went.

_'So I've been wondering. Do you think all this possession stuff would stop if you went back and dug up my body? Just... I dunno-- dump it somewhere else?'_

Green wasn't really a fan of Chara's choice for a conversation topic. "I don't think I would've been able to do that... Toriel wouldn't be happy with me at all."

Chara hummed in thought. _'Yeah... I guess I don't really want to see myself looking like... that.'_

Chara grimaced. Green decided to change the topic. "What about the other kids? Still remember...?"

_'Cyan, Blue, Purple, and Green... Wait, how many soul's does Asgore have?'_

"Four... but you counted me--"

_'ORANGE!'_ Chara shouted, nearly causing Green to slip again. _'Geez, I didn't really talk to him much, did I? He never even used a--'_

_Save point_ is what Chara was about to say, but it was as if the thought of it had suddenly made it appear. It sat there sparkling right at the edge of town.

"Was that always there? Should I...?"

The last save point he'd used was all the way back in the Ruins. It would be absolute agony for him to have to deal with the brutes at the bar again. And he really wanted to make his friendship with Grillby a permanent one... But...

Chara glanced in every direction, including up and down. Not many people were awake just yet, and all of them were carrying on with their own lives.

_'I'll leave it up to you... Be careful.'_

Green scanned his surroundings twice more, before standing with his back against the nearby building so nothing could surprise him. He braced himself.

The save point chimed.

Green waited for several seconds. How long would it take to be sure he wasn't caught? He was afraid to move, but took a few steps in the direction of Grillby's.

Even with no signs of danger, Green found himself outright sprinting into the restaurant. Grillby nearly dropped a glass as Green slammed the door shut behind him.

"Are you being chased?" he asked alarmed.

Green panted and shook his head. Grillby's tense shoulders went slack. "Oh... Well, come on over here. I've got a uniform for you... you can keep that apron on if you want."

Green (given honorary use of the fire exit) went to the back and changed into a white shirt, black pants, and shiny non-slip shoes. He washed his hands and face in the sink. He would need to find someway to bathe eventually. Re-tying his apron around his waist, he went up front to see Grillby offering him an omelet.

"Most of the customers will order eggs early in the day, so eat up and I'll show you different ways to prepare them. Most orders are just sunny side up though."

Grillby gave Green the rundown of the menu while they restocked the straws and napkins. It would by no means be an easy job, cooking for an uncertain number of people, just the way they liked it, all within a short amount of time, but Green was in his element.

The first wave of customers wasn't too bad. The bar section of the restaurant only opened once the afternoon had hit, so there were plenty of families in for breakfast. Green let Grillby do most of the customer service, but he took note of all the interesting monsters that came in. The canine guard had come in for dog food, and all Green had to do was scoop pellets into dog bowls. Some of them wanted an egg mixed in too. There were a couple Vegetoids seated with three other monsters that resembled the ones that were in the Ruins. Grillby insisted he prepare that order, and Green was tempted to ask what Vegetoids ate. There was a sweet family of Snowdrakes that was particularly happy, and Green took extra care with their order of frosted cereal flakes. Lastly, there was a group of aquatic-looking monsters, dressed heavily to keep warm. The three of them each ordered something with sweet lemons, and Green needed Grillby's help making it.

Everyone looked happy.

Then, the afternoon wave hit.

Green was cautious to peek out every time he heard a new customer entered the restaurant. Some of the monsters from the previous day had returned. The monster with the matted hair and the one with the fangs were among them, and they made eye contact with Green. Green shrank back into the kitchen and closed the door.

_They're just here for food._ Green assured himself. _It's the only restaurant in town. They're not here for you._

_'Yeah, just here for food. Probably on some nice and healthy diet the **doctor** ordered. Best to make sure they eat their Greens, after all.'_

Green shook away Chara's negativity, nearly burning the food from the distraction. He handed the food out the door just in time to see another figure enter the door. Green swiftly ducked back out of sight and started cleaning the mound of dishes as he waited for the next order.

Grillby gave a knock on the door. "One burger, a side of fries, and... water?"

Grillby didn't sound confident in the order, so Green leaned against the door so he could hear him better.

"That's new. Not going with the usual today?"

"Nah, I'll skip the lectures you give me for that this time. 'Sides, I saw the mishap yesterday and figured I'd give you a break."

"Well... I certainly hope that rumor hasn't spread. The last thing I need is to get shut down for investigation."

"I wouldn't worry about that. You can be pretty... well... hotheaded when it comes to bad customers. No one's gonna want to mess with that."

"Um..." Green called through the door. "Was that a yes or a no to the water?"

"Oh! Right," Grillby called back through the door. "Yes, that's a burger, fries, and a water."

"Got it..."

Green slumped back over to the grill, feeling guilty to have caused such a scene in Grillby's restaurant. What if he really did get shut down? Not only would Green be found, but Grillby would be in immense trouble for harboring a human.

Should he quit?

But what other options did Green have of surviving if not by hiding in plain sight?

He pushed away the thoughts away for later. Right now he had to work. He filled a glass with tap water and placed it on the tray next to the burger and fries, sending it out the door.

Green was about to turn back to his work on the dishes before he heard the sound of someone choking.

"What's wrong? Are you alright?" Grillby called, and the coughing continued.

The customer was sputtering, and Green grasped at the hair on his head. Someone was choking and Grillby didn't know the Heimlich?! Green couldn't just stand idly by while the customer suffocated.

Green burst out of the door ready to act, but was stopped dead in his tracks as he caught sight of the customer's shirt soaked with water.

He hadn't been choking.

He had no throat.

A shiver ran up Green's spine as the figure gazed back at him with hollow eyes, no longer coughing.

"Woowww!" exclaimed the matted monster, who had clearly been drinking prior to coming to the bar. "The rookie didn't even use magic on the water before givin' it to a customer!"

"Still insissst he's not a human?"

Green tore his eyes away from the customer and began fidgeting fearfully with his apron. He should've known-- of course a monster would have trouble drinking regular water if they weren't meant to digest food at all. He ought to apologize... but he found he couldn't look at the customer.

"S--....S....s-s..." Green stared at the floor and couldn't find his voice.

" _S...s--_ sssssorry I can't even talk right?!" The monsters howled at Green's stuttering.

"He did that yesterdayyy too! Hey maraca, if you can't talk without shaking yourself stupid, why don't you write out your words first? That's what uh smart person would do."

"What'ssss the matter? Can't read either, pipssssqueak? Hurry up an apologize before you lose a regular!"

Chara's grip on the frying pan turned Green's knuckles white, but the rest of him was flushed bright pink. He turned away on the brink of tears.

Grillby's flames curled, tinting blue at the tips. Before he could say a word, the drenched customer let out a long, drawn out whistle.

"Welp. Guess that's life tryn'a tell me to wash my clothes every month or so." His voice chuckled, surprisingly calm. "Man, first day, right? Probably freaked you out, makin' you think you've killed somebody day one, eh? My bad."

Green peeked up at the customer, partially hiding behind his frying pan as he did. Chara tensed.

Skeleton.

Gaster's kid.

He didn't look old enough to drink, but he was defiantly much older than Green. Even though he was younger than the monsters at the bar, no one paid him as much mind as they had with Green yesterday. Guess there were perks to being the spawn of the Royal Scientist. Green attempted another mumbled apology, but it was practically inaudible.

"Soooo I'm Sans. If you're working here you'll probably be seeing a lot of me." He lifted a hand in greeting, the other monsters looking disappointed at his lack of anger. Sans lifted the burger to his mouth and took a bite. He then proceeded to talk with his mouth full. "Pretty good burger for a first impression. Extra ketchup and everything! The fries though... lacking... something."

Sans chewed the fries with immense concentration. He then proceeded to snatch a handful from the fanged monster seated next to him.

"Hey! Thossse are--"

"Ah! That's what's missing!" Sans propped his skull on his hand and smiled up at the monster.

"Salt."

"Why you--!"

The monster hissed, looking ready to pounce on Sans, but the matted monster gave a cautious look.

"Whoa! Take it easy! I’m just sayin' the kid took care to make your order perfectly. There's nothing for you to complain about." He shut one eye, smile stretching wider still. "No need to throw a hissy fit."

"THAT'SSS IT!" The monster stood from the counter and thrust the meal towards Sans. "You love it sssso much-- you can have it! And you know what? You can PAY for it too!"

The monsters stormed out of the restaurant, and Grillby got up to pursue them with the bill. Sans caught Grillby by the arm and waved his hand. "Don't sweat it Grillb's. It’s my fault you lost another customer. Just put it on my tab."

"You mean your father's tab," Grillby exhaled an exasperated sigh.

Sans' smile faded a bit, and he picked at his food. “Yeah well, it’s not like he's doing anything helpful with all that Gold anyhow..." He tapped the counter idly with his index finger before looking back up at Green. "Ah... You know what? I dropped a fork on that side of the counter. Think you could get it for me?"

Green jumped at the eye contact, and nodded rapidly. He got down on the floor just in time for the restaurant door to burst open again.

"Howdy!" boomed a loud voice.

Chara's heart sank.

"I am sorry, but I just saw a pair of monsters arguing their way out the door. Is this a bad time? I have brought a friend for a celebration."

It was Grillby's turn to jump, and his fiery eyes flicked down to Green crouched beneath the counter. "O-of course, your majesty! There is always a seat available for the king!"

He didn't want to expose Green, but you can't just deny a king the right to eat diner food.

"Oh, wonderful! Come on in, they said it is all right."

"Darn right it’s all right! I'm so pumped I could break a table in HALF!" Another, significantly louder voice called from outside. "Cause I. Undyne. Just made. Head of the Royal! Freaking! GUARD! NGAAAAHHHH!"

Green leap back as a chair was thrown, smashing onto the floor mere inches away from him.

It shattered into splinters.

"Whoops. I can pay for that."

Grillby cleared his throat and adjusted his glasses, doing his best to keep a level head in the presence of Asgore. "Please refrain from damaging _all_ the furniture," he said as professionally as he could. "What will you be having for the special occasion?"

Green started to crawl back to the kitchen door, but Grillby waved him back under the counter, insisting he handle the order. It seemed that Green would have to stay curled up down there for as long as the king remained.

"Doin' ok down there?" Sans called, startling Green into hitting his head against the underside of the counter. "Yeah, I guess I got it stuck real good. You just keep looking."

_Please stop drawing attention to me,_ Green pleaded silently.

"Oh dear. What is it that you've lost?"

"Just dropped a fork, nothin' special."

There was bang on the counter that caused several glasses to topple over, and Green caught one before it could break open onto the floor.

"You're going to let some puny utensil stop you from enjoying a delicious grilled meal?! I could eat a thousand flaming plates of everything on the menu with nothing but MY FISTS!"

"But wouldn't you have to use your mouth?" Asgore rumbled in jolly laughter. "Ah, well if you managed to knock me down in a fight, I suppose you wouldn't let much else get in your way."

"Yeah? Well being tough doesn't stop tiny little marshmallows from getting stuck in your beard!" Undyne jabbed. "Wait. Actually, I know _one_ way to defeat food that fights back."

There was the sound of magic sparking, and Green peeked out just enough to see the youthful fish woman thrust an electric blue spear down into the counter.

The force of the spear sent out a shockwave of wind, and the weapon lodged several feet into the wood.

Green slunk back, curling into a fetal position on the floor.

Grillby emerged with the food, and stared at his impaled counter top.

"Uhhh I can pay for that," Undyne repeated. Green thought she must've had savings stored solely for paying off property damage.

"Right..." Grillby's flames slumped a bit. "I'll just get your silverware--"

"Oh, please do not worry. Since the counter is to be replaced anyway, I think I shall challenge my meal as well. I believe I have just the thing."

There was a sound like metal being slashed clear through the air. Then, three blood-red prongs of a trident were embedded into Asgore's plate, the counter, and very nearly, Green's nose.

Green was pretty sure he felt his heart stop.

The king and the heroine battled dish after dish with nearly half the plates ending up lodged into the wall. Apparently the two of them bonded through a violent game of Frisbee. Grillby was worked down to embers keeping up with the duo's appetite, and almost all the other customers evacuated the hazardous building.

They stayed for hours talking about nothing and everything until _finally_ asking for the check. A rowdy pair of customers, but they gave a kingly tip as thanks.

"See ya Grillby! Thanks for the grub!" Undyne shouted, giving Grillby a hearty slap on the back.

Asgore, too, bode farewell, but settled for merely resting a bear-like paw on Grillby's shoulder. "I am very impressed! Most restaurants I visit with Undyne end up having half the employees cowering for cover. Very well done. Perhaps we shall visit again soon? Good bye for now!"

Grillby waved with a big smile until the door slammed shut, settling crooked in its frame. Once the coast was clear, he lay face down among the wreckage with a defeated groan.

"Wow," Sans commented, finishing up his third round of fries. He was the last customer in the building. "Looking pretty burnt-out there, eh Grillbs?"

Grillby's groans grew louder.

"Joking aside," Sans leaned over the counter to smile at Green, who was also curled up on the floor. "I think your employee is about to pass out... You feeling ok? Your totally pale. Well, except your face, which is like a tomato."

"I-I'm... a m-monster!" Green squeaked, somewhat in shock from being in proximity with the bane of his survival. "'S normal f-for fire monsters to be red.”

Sans raised a brow ridge, then hopped down from his stool. "Welp. can't argue with that." He gave Grillby a salute for his commendable day at work. "Like I said, just put it on my tab, and I'll be seeing ya tomorrow!" He flashed a wink and saw himself out.

Grillby rolled over to sigh at the ceiling. "Sorry about that. I didn't mean for you to stay so long on your first day... If it makes it any better, we'll be closed for repairs for some time. Much to Sans' disappointment I'm sure." Grillby got off the floor and dusted himself off, offering Green his hand. Green took it with gratitude, unsure if he would've been able to get up on his own after all that had happened. "Here, I’ll go ahead and pay you for today, and take a doggy bag with you on the way out.” Grillby paused, then frowned. “Don’t actually take the dog food. I don’t think it would very suitable for a fire monster like yourself.”

Green nodded, thanking Grillby before leaving the restaurant with his a generous amount of Gold, a sandwich, and his regular clothes, tucked away in his bag. He was disheartened to see that the snowfall was picking up. He would have to head back to his alcove before it got any worse.

 

_______

 

_’I don’t trust this.’_ Chara urged Green to look over his shoulder multiple times as they walked. _’Tell Grillby you’re going to quit. Then, you should hide out for a while.‘_

“…I know it was a hard first day… but who else is going to just give me a job with no questions asked? I need to eat somehow, and I’d feel bad if I didn’t stick with Grillby for at least a little while after he’s been so nice.”

_’That place literally attracts death. The Royal Guard eats there every day, and Gaster’s spawn said he’d be back too.’_

“Sans was nice!” Green defended earnestly. “Asgore might’ve seen me if it weren’t for him.”

_’That’s what’s bothering me. If he did that on purpose it means he knows you’re human. But I don’t get why he didn’t let you get caught… As for Asgore, he’s as happy as every—like he really let himself forget what’s been happening.’_

“Well… I wish I could forget what I did to that Vegetoid… I know they’re fine now, but memories like that are a heavy burden. But even if he doesn’t want to remember what he did, I don’t think he’d forget why he made that law in the first place… It was because he loved you and Asriel, right?”

Chara considered Green’s words, watching as the snowstorm became denser around them. **All of this is my fault…** They sighed, but humored him with a smile. _’Heh… That’s one way of looking at it I guess… It’s getting kind of hard to see where you’re going.’_

“Yeah, but we’re almost there, righhHHT— Oof!“

Green slipped on a patch of ice, and landed with his backside in the snow.

“Maybe I should’ve kept the slip-resistant shoes on… Geez, I wish I knew how to walk like a normal person.”

He stood up and dusted the snow off his work pants. The veil of white swirled rapidly, and he could barely see his hands in front of him. Oddly enough, there was something on his shirt that he could just barely see.

It glowed light blue, and jutted out from his chest like he’d been stabbed.

“W…wha—“

“ **D o n ‘ t m o v e .** ”

The voice came from behind him, and Green froze in place, unable to turn and see whom it belonged to.

Even a shiver from the icy breeze would be enough to end Green’s life.

“So,” the voice continued. “I wasn’t sure if you were a human or not—can’t really remember ever seeing one, you know? But after that scene yesterday, and you _forgetting_ to use magic on water? Yeah, not much left to doubt.”

“S…. S-Sans?”

An outline of the skeleton appeared in front of Green, blank-eyed in the shadows of the forest.

“Hey, you bothered to remember my name, thanks a bunch… But let’s cut the act.”

Green’s soul was pulled in front of him. Chara was ready to trigger a reset at his command.

“I need your soul more than the king does. Sorry not sorry, but I’m taking it with me… But before I leave you here to freeze—“

A bright cyan sphere lit up and fixed its gaze on the floating green heart.

“I want to know _exactly_ how many monsters are d u s t because… of… you…?”

Sans trailed off, shoulders slumping.

All at once, the light blue glow vanished from Green’s chest, and he was seized at the collar. He was pulled slightly down to have his nose practically poking into Sans’ eye socket.

Sans glared at Green with the electrifying eye. There wasn’t much that eye couldn’t see, and it cut into Green as deep as Gaster’s eyes had with Chara.

“…What gives?” Sans growled in suspicion. Green shivered as Sans’ chilled hands grazed the bare skin at his throat. “You’re a human… but you _haven’t_ killed anyone?” He gave Green a violent shake. “A threat to monsterkind… No, a threat to _all of existance_ , and attackers without any trace of mercy. _That’s_ what a human is supposed to be!”

Green stared wide-eyed back at Sans, his own hands wrapped shivering around Sans’ arms in case the skeleton was planning on shaking him again.

“I-I d-don’t want t-to hurt anybody...”

Sans’ grip was weakening. The light in his socket fizzled out, and was replaced with the white pupils he had before.

“But… you’re leaving yourself at your lowest stats when nearly everyone out here wouldn’t hesitate to have you killed. And you didn’t even swing at those monsters that attacked you yesterday. I’m not complaining, but… why?”

“I’d r-rather be seen as weak than get s-stronger by forsaking myself and the people around me.”

Sans hands dangled loosely at Green’s shirt, and Green pulled them off slowly.

“Ah. I-I see…” Sans retracted his hands, and took a step back, looking less cocky than he had at the restaurant. “This didn’t quite go like I thought it would… This is all probably, uh… _super_ inconvenient for you... Sorry.”

“It’s… okay.”

_’He almost left you to stuck here until you froze to death—That is NOT okay.’_

Sans kicked a heap of snow, and scratched at the back of his skull. “It’s just… I took the sentry job because my family is kind of… obsessed with humans? Like—my brother thought the job would be cool, and Dad actually encouraged me too… Well, I guess he just wanted me to take the job because he wants another look at a human soul.”

_’Tch. Yeah, I’m sure looking at it is all he’ll do. So Daddy’s making you do his dirty work because his eyes burned out…’_

“Your dad… the Royal Scientist?” Green asked in unease. Despite the horrors that Chara had described, he couldn’t register Sans being related to the tortuous Gaster. Then again, he didn’t really know Sans.

“Yeah that’s the one,” Sans confirmed nonchalantly. “To be honest, I usually just hang out at Grillby’s whenever I’m on the clock. I’m not exactly a social butterfly like my brother, but being in the woods gets kinda lonely after a while… Gained a lot of weight from those burgers, but it’s not like sitting at a sentry station all day will keep me from getting fat.”

Green blinked in confusion. “But… You can’t be fat. You don’t have fat. You’re a skeleton.”

Sans gasped in mock surprise. “I… I am? Oh wow. I never would’ve suspected. I guess you’re right. Heh, I’m just big boned.”

“…” Green didn’t know what to think.

“You’ve heard that one I can tell. Welp. Now it’s my sworn duty to make you laugh.”

“O-oh… I get it. Ha ha—“

Sans lifted a hand. “Nope, too late. Pity laughs don’t count.”

“Sans…” Green’s fingertips were numbing from the cold now, and longed to bring the conversation to a close. “I should get going, but do you think your dad would be less likely to hurt me if you told him not to?”

“Oh no, he’d kill you on sight.”

“Ah, r-right… just thought I’d ask,” Green paled.

“Hey, don’t sweat it kid, I’ve got your back.” Sans patted Green on the shoulder before spinning around to head back to town. “Do yourself a favor and get somewhere warm though.”

Chara made Green wait until Sans was out of sight before walking back to the alcove.

They had a feeling they’d be seeing him again.

 

_______

 

Green changed back into his overalls as fast as he could, folding his work clothes as neatly in the small space of the cavern. The storm was in full effect now, and he wrapped himself tightly in Toriel’s blankets. They smelled nice, but could only do so much against the occasional gust of wind that found its way into the cave opening. He huddled in the back of the pitch-black cave, trying to keep warm.

_’You’re freezing.’_

Green’s only response was the chattering of his teeth.

_’If you cant take it, we can reset back to this morning and ask Grillby for more blankets.’_

The mere thought of having to redo the entire work day was exhausting, but if it meant staying alive, Green wouldn’t have any other choice. For now, all he could do is wait and see if the storm got any worse.

Every few moments, Green would submit to a coughing fit.

Chara should be able to reset sickness like they reset physical wounds, right? They hoped so…

After a period of coughing and chattering teeth, Green began to drift into sleep.

…

The machinery in the lab was all shut off, completely encased in ice.

Seven figures were frozen solid to the ground.

The first stood like a broken statue, bits of it scattered all over the floor.

The next two were place close together, one with three holes in its center, the next blackened at the edges. Then there was the smallest one, followed by the one with ink seeping from it, pooling onto the floor. The figure after that was missing, and the one after that looked horribly grim.

Their familiar faces were frozen in a hopeless state.

Gaster hung over them, reaching for the space where the missing figure was meant to be.

Chara reached toward the space too.

Green felt skeletal hands grab his shoulder.

He screamed, wriggling away from the hand, getting tangled in his nest of blankets.

“It’s me!”

Green’s eyes flew open, and he came face to face with Sans, his body stiff from the cold.

“Sans!” Green exclaimed.

“Kid!” Sans shouted equally loud.

“You followed me?!”

“You’ve been sleeping in a cave? Grillby’d offer you a place to stay if you let him.”

Green sighed and ran his hands through his curls. “Never mind. What are you _doing_ here? You scared me half to death.”

“Well I was wondering if you were going to get home okay wandering in the woods in the middle of a blizzard…”

“Sans…” Green hugged the blankets around him. He didn’t know how he felt about someone knowing where he slept at night.

“Sorry, I didn’t know I was breaking and entering when I found this cave. Promise I don’t bite—can’t open my mouth see?” Sans tugged at his fused jaw as proof.

“W-well… You shouldn’t be out in this weather either, so… um. Make yourself at home? You already had burgers today, but I think I have some stew left to offer you…”

Sans regarded the bags of take out in the corner. “Is this all you’ve been eating? Those have got to be ice-burgers by now, and that’s a crime.” Sans shook his head, and narrowed his eyes. “Downright burger burglary.”

“Oh gosh,” Green regarded his frozen food. “I didn’t think about it being too cold to eat. You’ve got to be freezing! Here, take a blanket.” Green began unwrapping one of his blankets for Sans, but Sans reached out to stop him.

“Whoa, whoa! You keep that on.”

“But—“

“I have no skin. Seriously. It’s a nice effort, but you’ll never survive like this.”

“I’ll be fine…”

“Is ‘fine’ what you call freezing to death in your sleep? I’ll take you someplace warm—“

“N-no really-- I can’t go to your house anyway so…” Green didn’t know why Sans insisted on burdening himself with Green’s well being. Maybe he was just curious to finally find out what a human was really like, or maybe it was all an act. Green really couldn’t tell what hid behind that permanent smile.

Sans considered Green’s rejection for help, before closing his eyes with a sigh. “All right. You know what? _Fine_.”

Sans got up abruptly, and Green feared that he had offended him.

“I-I’m sorry, I didn’t mean—“

Before Green could finish his apology, Sans left without another word, leaving Green to return to the silent chill of the cave.

It didn’t last very long.

Before Green knew it, Sans had returned with more blankets and a battery-powered heater in hand.

“ _My_ definition of ‘fine’ is that I’ll do what I want regardless of what you say. If you won’t go someplace warm, then the warm will have to come to you.”

Green became flustered by the overwhelming number of gifts, but he felt that it would be wrong to refuse them after the trouble Sans had gone through to carry it all here.

“T-thank you…”

“Yeesh, kid…” Sans turned on the heater and the two of them sighed in relief. Green snuggled close to the heater, and Sans seemed thankful that he his efforts hadn’t been in vain. “Take better care of yourself, would ya?”

“But why would you go through all this trouble? Like you said—as things are, most monsters would be happy if I was… gone. And… you know no one would even remember me… right?”

Sans nodded grimly, but gave a questioning look at the comment. “So you know about all that, huh? Then I guess you humans really are weird when it comes to time and space shenanigans… As for your question… Well. I’ve got a gut feeling that regardless of whether the memories stay or not, somewhere out there, someone cares about you. You recognize that with the monsters that live here, so I’d hate to see a kid like you treated any less.”

Green was thoroughly warmed up by the heater now, and his face tinted pink. He gave Sans a small smile. “Sans… you don’t have any guts.”

Sans squinted at Green, and returned the smile. “Heh. Touché. Hey, you’re not busy tomorrow, right? Let’s meet up again. I have so many questions, and there’s some stuff I want to show you.”

_’I don’t trust him. Did I mention one of Gaster’s kids has a boss soul? I’m willing to bet it’s Sans… But you won’t fight him. Will you?’_

_That’s not the plan we agreed on._

_’Okay, so let’s say you befriend everyone in the Underground. What then? You’re still stuck down here.’_

_One step at a time. I’ll get everyone to stop trying to kill me first. Then we’ll all think of some other way to leave._

_’There’s no way to leave that doesn’t involve someone dying. I played guinea pig long enough to figure out that much. It’s you or them... Go ahead and befriend him if you want. I’ll be looking for weak spots.’_

“…Sure, Sans. Let’s meet up again tomorrow,” Chara said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "A cheerful heart makes good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones." Proverbs 17:22 (WEB)
> 
> Everything in this chapter is a pun! That title is a pun! That dog is a pun!
> 
> *Doggone glares at the author, but the author is flailing around wildly.
> 
> *Doggone calls Doggo for help.
> 
> *Doggo glares at the computer cursor.
> 
> *Doggo realizes that the story could be read on a mobile device.
> 
> *The dogs give up and go home.
> 
> You won!
> 
> Up Next: sans.


	22. Where Compassion Meets Bone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Going to Sans' house. Wonder how that'll go.

"Okay, so-- you come across a group of monsters that are all talking and having fun. You..."

"I... I say hello and ask to join them!"

"The monsters agree to let you join."

"Yesss! Awesome!"

“The monsters say your family is super cool, and they’d all like to come over to play sometime.”

“Really? Of course they can!”

"You’re about to invite them over for snail pie --But, oh no! The humans attack! Everyone's freaking out and running in circles!"

"Ahh! I save the monsters and make the bad guys stop being bad!"

"You summon Chaos Saber and cut the enemy into a visceral heaps of flesh! Their blood spills over the Earth!"

"Wait, no."

"Urahaha! Nothing can stop you now!"

"Chara, come on. I don't want to be the bad guy."

"You're not the bad guy, you're saving people. Gerson probably killed people. Do you think _he's_ a bad guy? Come on, this is fun."

"It's not fun! I won't make any friends if I kill people."

"Well you're killing _me_ with that sappy good guy act."

"Chara..."

"Ha... All right, fine. Why not try narrating for me, then?"

"My brother and best friend."

_______

 

Chara hadn't meant to fall asleep. They’d been avoiding it ever since they started staying up with Blue. Now, instead of being pulled into one of Green's nightmares, they were greeted with a memory from their past.

It should have been a happy dream, but somehow it was the cruelest nightmare of them all.

Green roused from his sleep, and stretched his aching muscles with a yawn.

_'Feeling any better?'_

"Yeah, I’m all right. Throat's a little scratchy, that's all." He rolled over in his pile of blankets to turn off the heater.

_'Looks like the blizzard's over... You still want to meet with the numbskull today?'_

Green gave it a moment of thought, replying with a less-than-certain nod. "He was so nice... but I made him choke! And I forgot to salt his fries! I hope I don’t mess things up today…

Chara heaved a sigh out of Green's mouth. _'He wasn't even choking, and he just said that stuff to make a joke. You're worrying over nothing. Also, why am I able to have so much control over you when you technically haven't killed anyone?'_ Chara flicked Green in the forehead with his own finger to prove a point. _'Don't put up much resistance, do ya?'_

"Ow! Please stop it. I'm just worried that I might've messed up the other orders too," Green froze, and covered his mouth with a blanket. "What if I forgot something that monsters need and poisoned everyone?!"

_'Now you're just making yourself paranoid... but if it makes you feel any better, I accidentally fed a dog chocolate before.'_

Green recoiled into a ball under the blankets, horrorstricken by Chara's words. "Chara, that isn't helpful! That's sad!"

_'Geez, it didn't DIE or anything. I just didn't know chocolate was bad for... Are you crying?'_

"...Yes..."

_'Oh brother. The dog was fine, okay? Let's go meet up with Sans.'_

 

_______

 

Sans was loitering by the edge of town, pushing the snow around him into a small mound with his questionable footwear.

"Hey, you actually showed up!" He greeted Green with the lift of a hand before raising a brow ridge at the shivering child. "Ya know, you might want to invest in a coat... I'd say vest, but seriously. Get a coat."

"Y-you're wearing slippers in the s-snow."

Sans peered down at his feet with half-lidded eyes. "Well, I was going to wear sneakers, but I got cold feet."

Green muffled a giggle behind his hands, and Sans smirked. "Almost got a full laugh, huh? Thanks, I put a lot of sole into that one." His eyes crinkled from his grin. "Anyways, I've got some cool stuff I want to show you back at my place. Probably can’t take the igloo slides with you dressed like that, so let's get walking."

Sans spun around, knocking over his mound to head towards the center of Snowdin, but Green idled in the shadows of the trees.

"Is... it safe?" Green took a step back.

“Well, the slides are mostly made of ice, but they make for pretty decent shortcuts—“

“I… I meant at your house.”

Sans gave him a questioning look. "I don't think anyone's home right now if that's what you mean."

Green continued to fidget.

_' ‘Right now’ means Daddy could show up anytime. You shouldn't go anywhere near that place.'_

"Hmm… Guess you wouldn't want to risk it, huh?" Sans tapped his chin and glanced around town. He pointed a bony finger in the direction of the old inn. "Aha! There's one! You can use that save point, yeah? If something happens you can escape without having to relive your heart attack from yesterday."

_'Well this is the most obvious trap I've ever seen. Does he really think we'd...'_

Green stared at the save point with conflicted longing.

_'…You can't possibly be that naive. He. Could. Kill. You.'_

_I... I know he could, but I don't think he will. I.... I need to befriend Sans... I have to... I have to..._

"I'm just saying it's an option. You don't have to if you don't want--"

Green flinched away at the chime of the save point, and Sans’ eye flared blue.

"Oh." Sans blinked his eye several times until the blue flickered out. "Ok cool. C'mon, it's this--" Sans took a few steps forward before noticing Green wasn't following him.

Green stood stiff, bracing for an attack. How long would it take? Would it be quick? Slow? What part of his body should he defend? What if an attack came from every direction at once?

Green felt a chilling, yet gentle hand push his curls upward, out of his eyes. Sans peered at him with a concerned smile.

"Hey... It's okay. No one here but you and me."

"And you… won't… hurt me?"

"Nope."

"Okay... Right. S-sorry, I guess I already knew you wouldn't. I just go t a little... does your eye hurt when it does that?"

"What, the light? Nah. Come on, we'll walk and talk." Sans began picked up his feet, and this time Green followed. "It's just a little excess soul magic that helped keep me alive when I was... uh.... born. It was a good fit since both variations of blue magic flow naturally with skeletons."

"You almost died?" Green asked, but immediately scolded himself. It was an extremely personal question for someone he'd only met yesterday.

But Sans leaned back to gaze at the falling snow as he shuffled along. "Apparently my base stats are garbage. They can’t really go any higher no matter what I do, so my eye makes up for it. It’s my lazy eye."

"Ah... I see," Green fiddled with the tie of his apron. He didn’t want Sans to feel bad about something he couldn’t do anything about. "I know it's not the same, but my whole family has pretty weak immune systems... And I guess I've been having a pretty bad streak of nightmares lately..."

"Yeah?" Sans turned to Green in interest. "Same. That's another thing about magic-- blue light makes it hard to sleep, and it's even worse when the light is literally your entire eye... You ever hear voices in those dreams?"

"Um... Usually not, aside from a few sentences. It's mostly just scary faces... scary places…”

" ‘Don’t forget’ and 'Remember those you live for'. That’s what I usually hear. Noise usually keeps the worst of it away.”

"Oh! Yes, it's the same with me too."

Sans nodded, and exhaled a short chuckle. "Well if it gets too bad you can always go to the Inn. I swear, there's always someone snoring it there, and the walls are paper-thin. I guess _something’s_ better than nothing. I told Alphys about it too, and she said she'd work on making a bed that plays music if you start tossing and turning. She means well, but her ideas are always kinda--"

"Huge," Green breathed, coming to a stop in the ankle-high snow.

He stared upward at the biggest residential house in the entire village. It had a balcony, a garage, even a flag at the top. It wasn't overly gaudy in appearance, but was still an impressive building for a small village like Snowdin.

"Ah." Sans scratched the back of his head. "Yup... We moved here a while back after Papyrus and I set the lab on fire. Dad asserted himself, and here we are. Papyrus added the flag. We had to take the lights down though."Sans twisted the doorknob, and Green ducked down behind him, frying pan raised in defense.

Stepping inside revealed a surprisingly cozy home with an old couch, a small kitchen, and three bedroom doors visible at the top of the stairs. It was much warmer than Green's humble alcove.

"It's... nice," Green admitted, taking in the warmth.

"It's all right. Wish he'd change the carpet though."

Green glanced down at the gray flooring. He had noticed there were patches of gray poking from the drywall too, originally a warm shade of brown. The whole place could use a fresh coat of paint, but the artificial daylight filtered comfortably through the windows all the same. "A soft beige might look nice," Green suggested.

"Yeah..." Sans tapped his chin dreamily. "Or purple and blue zigzags!”

_’That would look awful.’_

Green just smiled with his hand folded in front of him.

Sans pushed a stack of papers off the couch and onto the floor before flopping down into the worn fabric. He patted the spot next to him. Green sat formally at the edge of the lumpy couch. There were coins jammed between the cushions, but it wasn't his couch. He left the coins where they were.

“Before we start—“ Sans kicked aside a few more papers, and pulled out one marked with lines and bizarre symbols. It looked like it had been torn from something. “I wanted to know if you could read this?”

Green took the paper like it was made of thin glass, and turned it over. The only letters that actually looked like anything were E,h,P, and o. Green shook his head, handing it back to Sans.

"All right," Sans slumped further into the cushions and threw an arm over the back of the couch. " I was thinking we could start by asking some questions, if that’s all right. You can go first.”

_’Who has the souls?'_

"A-Asgore's got all four of the other humans souls, right?"

Sans nodded. "Yep. Yep. All four accounted for, and locked safely away out of reach from anyone but the king.” Sans leaned forward, folding his hands over his knees. "They probably mean a lot to you, being the only other humans to fall down here... But is there some part of you, call it a _memory_ or _voice_ , that connects you with the others?"

Green reached to Chara for an answer.

_'…Does he know about me? Give him a vague answer. Don't tell him I’m here.'_

"Umm... No! …M-maybe?"

Sans made a face at the unsatisfactory response. "…We don’t have to do this if you don’t want—“

"Ah! I’m sorry--" Green flailed his hands wildly to clear the misunderstanding. "I really do want to talk about it, but it's... a little over my head? It's like... I can feel some of what the others felt before? And it's all kind of just... in here." Green poked at his forehead with an anxious finger.

Sans gently pushed Green’s arms back down at his sides. “Relax… I’m not interrogating you. We’re just… trying to figure out some stuff that doesn’t make sense… ok?”

Green nodded, and tried to unwind the tension he’d built up. He reclined back onto the couch, and Sans gestured for him to ask another question. "Um... Earlier you said humans were a threat to all of existence. What did you mean by that?"

"Ah, that's a fun one." Sans' eyelights dimmed from white to gray. "I can show you the reports we got later, but the general idea is that time itself is coming to an end... Well. Maybe."

Green tilted his head, prompting Sans to explain further.

"We figured that since humans are the only ones we know of who can alter time, that one might be responsible for it... But your soul is green with a _liiiittle_ bit of blue. Mostly we're worried if a red one shows up. Those ones are harder to, uh... override."

"Oh..."

It _would_ be interesting to see what would happen if another red soul fell down. If Chara united with another who had determination... who's to say anyone would be able to stop them from escaping the Underground.

But no one had even had it as a subtrait.

"My turn," Sans' bones creaked as he stretched his back. "Just out of curiosity, how many times have we had this conversation?" He made sure to hold eye contact when he asked.

Green met his gaze easily. "This is the first time.”

Sans folded his arms behind his head, and smiled at Green. "Yeah, I figured. It's just nice to hear it."

"Do you think I have a chance?"

Sans' smile drooped.

"You mentioned reports,” Green continued nervously. “Can they tell the future? Am I... there?"

"It's an infinite universe with infinite possibilities, kid,” Sans stared at the ceiling. “We can only 'predict' so much... As you are, I'd say you're in the right track. I can't really say anything else for sure..."

“Oh... Okay.”

"But if you find yourself in a bind, you could always just hold it out until the world ends. Since it might come sooner than we thought."

Green managed a slight smile in his unease. "That doesn't sound like a very productive way to end the conflict."

Sans shrugged. "I'm a patient guy. Wanna ask another?"

"Umm... Oh! What do you know about suddenly crying bla--"

The handle to the front door turned, and Green’s words caught in his throat.

Sans tossed a blanket of Green's head, trying to buy time for him to rese--

"SANS!"

_'Wait a second--'_

"You were out very late last night! Where were you?!"

Sans relaxed back into the couch, and innocently spread his hands. "Where were _you_?"

" _I_ was gathering information about the new head of the Royal Guard! I’m CERTAIN she’ll let me join! Even if I have to camp outside her front door! The point being-- I have a very good excuse! YOU do not!"

"Oh yeah, Undyne was it? I saw her last night at Grillby's."

"You WHAT?!" Green peeked out of the blanket just enough to see Sans' brother fling his arms up in distress. "WHY do people as cool as the Royal Guard have to have such appalling eating habits? When I become a Royal Guard I'll make sure they NYEHVER--" Sans' brother stiffened, oval eye sockets squinting at the blanket heap on the couch.

"Sans...." He leaned in close, practically breathing on Green's rigid face. "Is that... a human?"

Sans looked from his brother, to the blanket, back to his brother again.

"Uh… nope."

"Oh." The new skeleton hunched his shoulders in disappointment. "Then why is there a stranger huddled on our couch??”

Green poked his head out from under the blanket, and Sans gestured at Green with exaggerated flourish. "I made a new friend, bro. Kid, this is my brother, Papyrus."

There was a moment of tense staring between the two strangers, and Green wondered if he was intruding--

Papyrus bounded at Green at full speed, screeching a battle cry at the top of his non-existent lungs. Green screamed, and braced himself against the couch as he summoned a reset.

But he let the reset drop as he was snatched up, not to be strangled or maimed, but in a powerful, energetic embrace. His screaming died down until he was merely dangling confused from the boisterous bone brother’s arms.

"SANS! YOU'VE MADE A FRIEND!! YOU FINALLY CONVINCED SOMEONE TO ENTER OUR HOME WITHOUT THEM BEING SCARED HALFWAY TO THE GRAVE OF OUR FATHER!!"

Green's ears were ringing, and he shuddered limply.

"Whoa, Easy with the capitalization and exclamation points, bro." Sans patted Green on the back with one hand and massaged the spot where his ear would be with the other. "Our guest here is a little skittish."

"OH NO!" Papyrus slapped a hand over his mouth before the shout could impale Green's eardrums even further. He proceeded to talk carefully in a somewhat quieter voice. "Whoopsy doopsy. Perhaps I should proclaim my jubilation outside? That way the WHOLE Underground will know just how excited I am!!"

He released Green's rag doll body and charged halfway out the door before Sans grabbed hold of his scarf. "Hold on a sec. This friend's gotta be kept a secret... For reasons I can't explain... And you can't tell Dad... Ever."

Papyrus slouched, arms dangling like noodles. It was one of the most impressive sibling pouts Chara had ever seen, but he couldn't keep from smiling when he looked back at Green again. "A SECRET friend, you say? Well! Nobody’s better at keeping secrets than THE GREAT-- ahem... The Great Papyrus! Pardon my volume, dear friend of my brother’s and thereby friend of mine. I won't tell a soul!" He stretched his glove-covered hand in a symbol of companionship.

Green was still thoroughly overwhelmed, but met Papyrus' hand with a timid handshake. "I-it’s… nice to meet you..." he squeaked.

"I know! And it is wonderful to finally meet you as well, first friend!" Papyrus bowed chivalrously. "SANS! Did you offer our new friend something to eat? Don't you know how to treat our new pal?"

"Whoops," Sans blinked and turned to Green. “Ah, dude I forgot. Were you able to thaw your food? We can hook you up with something. Sit tight. I think we ordered pizza the other night?”

“O-oh, you don’t have to worry about—“

“OUR FRIEND HASN’T EATEN ANYTHING?” Papyrus threw his hands to his head in panic. “Sans! We can’t just heat up leftover pizza! He deserves a proper meal!”

“But neither of us knows how to cook,” Sans pointed out, already heading into the kitchen.

“True. One of us should really start taking lessons from somewhere…”

Sans dug through the refrigerator and pulled out a package of hotdogs made from some kind of aquatic plant. “I can make these. Like the kind you’d get at a ball game?”

“I’ll help,” Green offered.

“Dude, it’s your day off.”

“No really, I enjoy it.”

“Actually, I think I found some human ketchup at the dump if you want it. Just for fun. Not that you’re human or anything.” Sans winked and started up a mini grill.

“Absolutely not!” Papyrus rejected. “No friend of mine is going to eat out of the garbage while there is perfectly good food to be shared! Also, did you fall down, or is covering yourself with dirt some new trend I need to be following?” Green looked over his disheveled clothes in embarrassment. He hoped he hadn’t tracked dirt into the skelebros’ house. “Don’t be ashamed, Sans is MUCH filthier than you! You can shower in that room by the stairs. I’m not sure what kind of monster you are, but we have plenty of ske-lotion to wash with.”

“It’s basically toothpaste,” Sans called out from the kitchen.

“I like to keep my cranium minty fresh!”

Green had enough years of experience of spitting toothpaste into his hair to know that it wasn’t the most pleasant thing to use as shampoo. “I think I’ll pass… Are you sure I can’t help with the hotdogs?”

“It’s just hotdogs. Not much to ‘em… I guess you could split the buns? We’ve got a breadknife around here somewhere.”

Green and Sans opened drawer after drawer looking for the knife and buns. Papyrus rushed upstairs to retrieve an action figure that could supposedly hack through anything with it’s chainsaw hand.

“Found it.” Green pulled a silver knife from the back of a drawer.

“And I’ve got the buns!” Sans declared as he pointed to the top shelf. The bread outlined in blue, and was pulled down to Sans. He knocked over a sack of flour.

Green, Sans, and the entire kitchen were coated in a thick layer of powder.

Sans coughed a cloud of flour from his mouth. “You know, my bro might have a point about me being messy,” he laughed, drawing a smiley face in the dust on the counter. “…Kid?”

Green was fixated on the knife held in his dusty hands.

Green swayed on his feet, and leaned against the counter for support. He let the knife drop, and he stifled a series of coughs with his hand.

Sans rubbed Green’s back, holding him up as he did. “Easy there. You ok? Is it a cold? Asthma?”

Green shook his head and cleared his throat. Papyrus rushed down the stairs, arms full of action figures and storybooks.

“I leave for five minutes, and you two manage to explode the entire pantry! SANS! You’re a bad influence.” Papyrus dumped his trove of chainsaw-wielding heroes onto the floor and pulled out one that had a tiny vacuum cleaner for a face. “You’re just lucky to have such a cool and talented friend who always comes prepared!” He placed the figurine in Green’s hand, and thrust an index finger down at the soiled floor. “I say to you, fiendish floor: There is no mess of Sans’ that I cannot scrub spotless!”

Papyrus leapt into action, sweeping and scrubbing at the soiled room. Despite Sans suggesting he take a rest, Green did what he could to assist.

  
_______

 

“Zzzzzzz…”

“Saaaans.”

“Zzzzzzzz…”

“Sans!”

“Zzzz—“

“SANS!!”

“Yeah, bro?” Sans blinked groggily from his place on the couch at his brother looming over him. Green dusted off his overalls and placed a finished hotdog on Sans’ ribcage. The hotdog quickly vanished into Sans’ mouth before he rolled over, burying his face.

“You didn’t help at all! It’s incredibly rude of you to make our first ever guest clean our kitchen! You didn’t even pick up your socks before he came over!” Papyrus jabbed at a sock lying by the TV.

“Never said he had to. Besides, I picked up the _rest_ of my socks.”

Papyrus squinted in disbelief. “And where did you put them…?”

“In the best place for socks of course.”

“Why do I get the feeling this I'm walking right into a—“

Sans turned around with white cotton socks dangling from his eyes.

“I put ‘em in my sockets, bro.” Sans kept a straight face, but he looked like he really wanted to laugh at himself. “My sock… pockets.”

Papyrus made a face like he’d bitten into something foul. “SANS!! I cannot believe you—“

Green erupted into laughter, and the siblings’ bickering came to a halt.

“Yesss!” Sans cheered, and stuck his hands up beneath his jaw, using the socks as hand puppets. “Finally got you to laugh. Music to my non-existent ears!” the puppet said, jabbing at Green, who was on the verge of tears.

“Sans, really,” Papyrus fumed, but he was smiling too. “What would Father say?”

“Psssh.” Sans swatted dismissively. “What do I care what he thinks? He’s never here ‘till late anyway.”

“Well he’s coming home around six today. It was another inspection day.”

“What, really?” Sans widened his sockets in surprise. “That almost never happens. What time is it now?”

Everyone turned to look at the clock that sat ticking on the wall.

6:17 p.m.

There was the sound of keys twisting in the doorknob.

Before Green had time to panic, his soul was pulled out of his chest, and immediately dyed indigo.

He found himself flung up to the second floor, and into the bedroom on the rightmost side.

The door swung shut behind Green, and he was left with his rabbity heartbeat in darkness of the room. His head buzzed like it was filled with screeching birds.

 _What happened? --Was that HIM?_ Green thought, not risking breaking the silence. _How are we going to get out? We could go out the window, but... Chara? ...Are you okay?_

_'Please... hide.'_

_But, we're already hidd--_

_'HIDE AGAIN, AND BE. QUIET.'_ Chara snapped, still shaken by the Sans' magic. Green swallowed a lump in his throat, and did as he was told.

Green's eyes adjusted to the faint light emitting from the window blinds, and located a closet built into the side of the wall. He tip-toed over to it and tugged at the door. The door didn’t close all the way, but footsteps were heading up the stairs. Green ducked inside the closet, tucking himself next to a pile of laundry.

It reeked of dumpster ketchup.

An older, raspy voice joined Sans and Papyrus'. It didn't sound particularly happy. Rather, it didn't sound like it had ever known happiness at all. The skelebro’s themselves sounded robotic and rehearsed.

They were headed towards the bedroom.

"--but you hardly ever have time to at home," Papyrus conveyed without shouting. "Wouldn't you want to spend this time doing something fun together? Work can wait.”

"If you want to waste the evening playing silly games, then by all means go ahead," the voice dismissed with an abrasive drawl. "Your brother and I have much to discuss."

"About the humans? ...Can't I help? We can all do it together!"

The voice exhaled an exasperated huff. "We've been over this. Both science and the Guard are not appropriate lifestyles for a monster like you. Wait out here. When we are finished, either one of us will read with you, hm? Do not disturb us... Sans, why aren't you moving?"

Sans coughed right outside his bedroom door. "What? You want to talk in _my_ room?"

"I know you took the key to my lab. I’m going to check the cameras tonight… Unless there’s something in there you don't want me to see." The voice said, agitated.

"It's not that. It's just... there's a _literal_ tornado of garbage in there."

"No different from the work spaces of my 'trusted employees'. Move on, now."

"All right… I’m warning you."

The bedroom light flicked on, and Chara pushed Green to against the wall of the closet. They were able to watch through a thin strip of light emitted from the jammed door.

The bedroom door was opened slowly, with Sans peeking inside first. He spotted Green’s hiding place, and with the swipe of a finger, all the clothes hung up in the closet came falling down on top of Green. Sans entered with the much taller figure silhouetted by the view from the closet. Green could make out the lower half of the figure’s body, his slick, black shoes making deep impressions in the carpet.

Chara’s stomach flipped, and confirmed the owner of the voice.

Gaster began digging through Sans' note-covered desk, and Sans smooshed down onto a lumpy mattress on the floor. It was a very simplistic room without much decoration, but the heaps of clothes and take out boxes served as their own personal touch.

"So...." Sans twiddled his thumbs in the awkward silence as his already trashed room was trashed further by Gaster’s searching. "Have a rough day at work? We could talk about if you--"

"Where’s the key?" Gaster inquired, clear and to the point.

"want..." Sans shifted his tone from friendly to stern. It was like he could change his persona with the flip of a switch. "Look, the cameras are probably frosted over from the blizzard. I've been keeping an eye on the forest, myself."

"And?"

"Nothing significant to report."

Gaster folded his hands together and squeezed, creating a horrible sound of scraping bone. " _Nothing,_ " he repeated. He ran his hands over his skull and drew in a breath. He gave up on the drawers, and began scouring the shelves.

"Kindness should have fallen by now—How can you be lazing about here when we have such little time left?!”

“Hey, I’ve honestly been searching, and I haven’t seen any murderers as far as I could see. I know you're worried about some human attacking--"

Gaster’s search was interrupted by a coarse fit of cackling. “Now that _is_ funny. Afraid of the humans? No. There is only one thing that warrants fear.”

“You’re actually afraid of something?”

Gaster bent down to face his son, and Green caught a glance at his face. His features were hollow and concave, with darkened creases dominating his skull. It looked like he hadn’t slept in days.

“It is **nothing** , Sans.”

“Ehh… You’re kinda giving me mixed signals here, Pops.”

Gaster scoffed at the reaction. “Do not joke with me. Abnormalities are bleeding in and out of existence. If the humans are left to roam, _all of time_ will come to an end. The faster they are taken care of the better.”

Sans massaged his temples, eyes flicking briefly to the closet. “It’s still a long way off. It might not even happen. We’ve got time. We can _fix_ this.”

Gaster narrowed his circle-framed eyes, and stretched to reach the highest shelf. Tall as he was, it barely evaded his grasp. “I have lived-- argh!-- long enough to have learned that years die just as rapidly as a wilting rose… Damn it!”

Gaster speared his hand at the shelf, and it flickered pale blue like a dying light bulb.

“Whoa! Cut it out, it’s not up there!” Sans jumped from his seat.

Gaster bent over, his magic having no effect on the shelf. He glared at Sans, and turned to the closet.

Chara suppressed Green’s frightened gasp.

“Fine, you know what? _Here_!” Sans pulled an old key from under his pillow and thrust it at Gaster. “Quit hurting yourself, and quit going through my stuff!”

Gaster pocketed the key, and bore his eyes into Sans’. “Look me in the eye, and tell me you are doing your job.”

Sans frowned, and locked his unflinching eyes with Gaster. “If I was going to turn against you and rebel like some human-sympathizer, I would’ve done it by now. I’m your son. Don’t you trust even _me_?”

Gaster scanned Sans up and down for any sign of a bluff, but Sans hardly emoted at all. Gaster carried on. “Why bother with sympathy?” He grumbled. “Any attachment or sense of emotion you might feel towards them can be stolen away with a simple reset. Their lives are fleeting. The timelines have shown this. It is pointless to make friends with a corpse, never to be seen again.”

Sans tapped an irritated finger on his kneecap. “Not everyone gets to live as long as you do. You want me to pretend that they don’t have wants and dreams like everyone else?”

“It would make it easier if you did. Sans, if we do not stop them _now_ , there will be little we can do to stop them later.”

Sans’ hunched over, but his voice was clear. “…Papyrus says even the worst person should at least be given a chance. In a world of infinite unique outcomes, isn’t something like that possible?”

“You really take his words to heart, don’t you?” Gaster exhaled, and calmly placed a hand on Sans’ shoulder. “I suppose it is _possible_ , if not extremely unlikely.”

“See? You—“

“However, if that stands as true, then it can only be assumed that even the kindest person can be capable of great evils.”

A chill swept over Chara’s neck.

Gaster’s expression softened, holding genuine concern for his son.

“You must know by now that as a boss monster, you’ll greatly outlive your brother. He is not like you.”

Sans shifted Gaster’s hand off his shoulder. “Do we have to bring this up again?”

“I was merely going to question how me absorbing a soul would affect your growth. If I am left to die of old age, you will proceed as any other boss monster has before you. But if I regain immortality, and I am able to control a human soul, will my life energy not remain where it is?” Gaster chuckled softly. “You might just be that height forever.”

“Then it sounds like I get the short end of the stick,” Sans deadpanned dully.

Gaster’s chuckle turned into a groan, and he pinched his nasal bridge. “Honestly, where _did_ you two get those atrocious speech patterns? If it’s not jokes from you, it’s your brother’s voice that could be detected on the Richter Scale.”

Sans inched to the bedroom door, willing to bring the conversation to a close. “Listen, we’ll find the ‘oh so murdery’ humans, and deal with all this when the time comes. I know it’s stressful to have everything in jeopardy like this, but all we can do is keep on going, ok?”

“You speak like you don't believe a human could kill you in one hit.”

Sans folded his arms in discomfort. “Dad…”

“I’m being serious, Sans. You cannot afford to underestimate your enemies, and I _need_ that soul or I will—“

“I _get_ it!” Sans broke his laid-back facade. “Geez, you think I _want_ it to happen?!”

 _’I do.’_ Chara indulged.

_Chara…_

Sans wasn’t finished yet, and he pulled a bright, white soul from his chest. “If all I am to you is a time limit, then why don’t you go ahead and just take your life _back_?!”

Gaster towered over Sans, hands clenched into fists. “Do **NOT** speak like you understand. You do not--,” Gaster loosened his features, and pushed Sans’ hands back towards his chest. “…understand yet….”

Sans let his soul fade back into the fabric of his sweater, and Gaster slumped down into a chair by the desk.

“I do not want you to have to endure the life of a boss monster by yourself…” Gaster rested his forehead in his hand. “The few who understand the isolation of outliving those you love wont always be on your side.”

“…”

Neither of them said much else, and Gaster crossed the room, taking the doorknob in hand. “You are more valuable to me than time itself…”

Sans exhaled his stress, and mumbled under his breath. “Valuable, huh? Love you too…”

Gaster stepped out of the room. Green tried to come out of hiding, but Sans leaned against the door to block him in.

“And, Sans?” Gaster called from the doorway.

“Uh huh?”

“Pick up your clothes.”

The door clicked shut without another word.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good." Romans 12: 20-21 (KJV).
> 
> That awkward moment when your angry, murdering father comes home to see you with socks dangling from your eyes.
> 
> Wanted to post this earlier, but I was assigned a 20 page essay on top of an exam on top of a 50 page reading on top of a 600 word response... I need a nap.
> 
> Also moved around some parts. Might break the next chapter in half too.
> 
> Up Next: Well now we have to get out of the house without dying


	23. RGBa

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Green and Sans flee Snowden to try and get help.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I just wanted to let everyone know that finals are coming up and I've been sick, so there will likely be a bit of slowdown for a while. Hope you all do well and enjoy the last weeks of class (As much as one can enjoy school that is).

"Ok... It's safe to talk now."

"....."

"Kid? I know he's scary, but he's gone now."

"...I can't move."

The creaky door was pushed aside, and the closet flooded with light. A pale and gentle hand reached in to uncover Green from the pile of rumpled clothes. Even his ruddy cheeks were ghostly white. Sans crouched down beside him.

"That's ok. You might have to spend the night here if we can't clear a path for you to leave the house. It'd be good to get a move on before Dad looks over the save points though... Why didn't you reset when I warned you?"

Green swallowed to alleviate a tickle in his throat. "I... didn't want to have to tell you about it."

"Aw, kid." Sans pulled one of his spare jackets off Green's head and hung it back up. "I don't mind if you need a reset every now and then."

"But your Dad said..."

"Ah," Sans scratched behind his skull. "I’m sorry you had to hear all that. Dad... isn't exactly the greatest person."

_'He's more like a bad rash that won't go away.'_

"He's been through a lot of really sick stuff," Sans continued. "He's tried to mimic what he thinks a caring parent might sound like, but we've gotten into a lot of fights over stuff like this."

Now that the lights were on, Green could see the sections of repaired drywall dotted around the room. It's seemed that not every fight between Gaster and Sans was exclusively verbal.

"I'm sorry for causing so much trouble," Green sympathized.

"Quit apologizing so much. I'm the one who took the key. I was gonna show you a drawer in the lab that can hold objects across the resets." Sans shook his head. "This kind of thing shouldn't be happening to a kid like you. You haven't so much as _scratched_ a monster!"

Green sunk down in the heap of clothes, hiding his face.

_... I should tell him about the Vegetoid._

Chara sealed his mouth shut. _'It didn't even happen in this timeline. Don't bring it up.'_

"It's no skin off my bones if my old man gets mad at me." Sans paused with a T-shirt balled up in his hands. "I'd always sneak into the lab to try and see what I could learn about the humans before you. Didn't take long before the details got... graphic... I told myself they were probably terrible people with terrible families. And some of them _had_ killed."

Green sank further into the remains of the pile of fabric.

"...And I nearly killed you without a second thought." Sans let the T-shirt drop to the floor, and ran a stressed hand down his face. " I didn't even _know_ you. I didn't _want_ to know you. You were one of 'them' and nothing more... I guess it's more like father like son than I'd like to admit."

"...But you _didn't_ kill me."

"Yeah... not in this timeline I didn't. Hey, maybe there's one timeline where Dad's nice and everyone lives. Just one big happy family."

_'As for this one, he's a raging psychopath and all my friends are dead.'_ Chara growled. _'Gaster said it himself, the only reason Sans is still around is because he doesn't want to spend eternity alone. He's FORCED into pretending to care.'_

Green hid his eyes beneath his mop of curls. A rather unhappy thought skittered across his mind.

_That’s not why you're still trying to keep me alive… is it?_

Chara was taken aback by the absurd comparison. _'No! You don't know what you're talking about-- I'm NOTHING like him... And don't even think about apologizing again. I’m glad you weren’t there to understand what a horrible person he is. It’s kind of beautiful, in its own stupid way.'_

Green didn't feel particularly assured by Chara's comment.

He felt like an idiot who couldn’t help his friend.

"Aw geez, I'm making you homesick with this family talk aren't I? Sorry buddy," Sans took notice of Green's plummeting determination. "We'll get you out of here in no time. Outsmarting my Dad isn't so hard. Just think of some place you want to hide when you get out of here, and whatever you do-- don't hide there."

Green longed to hide out in his alcove, but it seemed that it was now out of the question. "But how am I going to get out of the house? Your Dad didn't look like he was going to bed anytime soon."

"Don't you worry about that. Papyrus has things covered, and will plot out an escape route for you shortly. For now..." Sans dug up a camera from a pile of debris. "How 'bout a photo? I've started up an album of random people who talk to me for whatever reason. It'd be nice to have someone who isn't a scientist in there."

Green flushed pink as the camera lens met his eyes, but he consented Sans' request.

"Awesome! Ready? Give me a real smile, tomato!"

His smile was nervous, and he blinked at the flash. But with this memory preserved throughout time, he felt he might be able to exist just a little longer with it.

 

________

 

Sans and Green peered through the bedroom door to watch Papyrus at work. He didn't look at all afraid of Gaster, and if there's one thing Papyrus was good at-

It was being loud and optimistic.

"WHAT'S UP, DADDYO?!" he threw himself over the coffee table, sending Gaster's paperwork fluttering off throughout the room.

"It will have to Sans tonight, Papyrus," Gaster shooed, unamused. "I'm much too busy this week... And do refrain from your incessant shouting, if you please."

Papyrus folded his hands under his jaw with a devious smirk. "Oh, but I'm not here for a BEDTIME STORY. I must ask a very important question that Sans is completely unable to answer!"

"Infants emerge from test tubes and you mustn’t bother listening to statements suggesting otherwise. Now leave me to my work."

Papyrus' cheekbones tinted with an odd sort of blush. "No... No, that has NOTHING to do with my question."

"Hm."

"I wanted to ask... If not the guard or the science department, then what kind of job should I have??"

Gaster brought a stack of papers close to his eyes to read the small text. "Finally you ask something sensible. To begin with, you aren't remarkably skilled at anything. Perhaps you could be a puzzle calibrator with the rest of the idealistic daydreamers. Every machine needs its cogs... If that doesn't suit your taste then it would be best not to focus on anything you have zero chance of success at."

_'You shouldn't have become a father if we’re going by those rules.'_

Papyrus burst from beneath the papers Gaster was holding, and sent them flying with the others. "But I think the guard might be really fun and cool!!"

Gaster exhaled in exasperation and rubbed his eye sockets. He really did look like he was trying not to strangle his own son. "I really do not have time for this, Papyrus. If you cannot tame your ridiculous fantasies, I will be complete the remainder of my work elsewhere."

With that, Gaster ascended the stairs to his bedroom and locked the door behind him.

Sans and Green scurried silently down the staircase and hurried out the door.

"You're the greatest, bro." Sans whispered on the way out.

"I know!" Papyrus whispered back.

"Love you, bro."

"Sans!" Papyrus flushed. "Our new friend is right there! ... but I love you more with the most brotherly of affections."

"Thank you so much for your help! It was really nice to meet you." Green gave a slight bow.

"But of course!" Papyrus slammed a heroic fist to his chest. "Goodbye, first ever friend! I hope to see you again sometime soon!"

The door of the skeleton household shut behind them, and Green caught sight of a jagged-toothed monster consulting the dog guards in the distance. With them, a scraggly-haired monster jabbed an accusing claw in Green and Sans' direction.

If it weren't for Green's slip-resistant work shoes, he might’ve ended up face down in the ice like before.

The running agitated his lungs, giving birth to another fit of coughs.

 

_______

 

Hotland was warmer in temperature, but Snowden was warmer in atmosphere. Not many monsters liked to hang around in the heat for too long, and the machinery stood intimidatingly high from the hazardous lava.

Each change of scenery over the course of his adventure made Green feel even farther from home than he had before. It was like an existence completely separate from his old one on the surface. Rather, it had become more like a collage of newspaper clippings, each featuring a short excerpt of his time in each region of the Underground.

He couldn't imagine what kind of collage Chara must've created over the course of their own existence.

How was it that they hadn’t broken down by now?

Green had heard other monsters in Snowden talking about the previous souls every so often. Every time one was obtained, the Underground burst at the seams with jubilant celebrations.

'Just a little longer' or 'Just three more to go.'

It hurt whenever he thought about it.

Still, Green couldn't wrap his head around Sans being so quick to help him. He supposed that if there were thousands of monsters of every kind residing in the Underground, there had to be at least _one_ Sans. Someone on his side. Grillby and Toriel too. He took what solace he could from this, even if it meant the cost of his new friends' true freedom.

Not far from the edge of Waterfall (which was now filled with litter from the surface), there was a modest house with bits and bobs scattered around the front yard. It was nowhere near as big as Sans’.

Sans raised his hand to knock, and Green hid behind him once more as the door opened.

"H-hello..?" Answered an anxious voice. "Oh, it's just you, Sans! And here I was worried I'd have to talk to a total stranger in my pajamas!"

"A Mew Mew T-shirt, huh?" Sans identified the bubbly logo with a casual smile. "I'm in no position to judge someone with that much style. But hey, I wanna show you something--"

Sans stepped aside to reveal Green, and Alphys released a screech shrill enough to send her reeling backwards.

Green screamed in alarm at Alphys' screaming.

The two of them shouted until both of their faces were dyed bright red, and they turned away to hide their eyes.

"I'm so sorry!"               "I'm so sorry!"

"... So I brought a total stranger over for you to meet. I knew you two'd get along."

"H-how-- Wh-why-- H-human!" Alphys sputtered, staring at Green again.

Green tapped his index fingers together nervously, but he knew cowering away wouldn't help. He did his best to be brave, even if it wasn't one of his strong points.

"H... hello. I'm [Green]. Sans is helping avoid his Dad so I can stay alive. If... if it isn't too much trouble, would you mind helping me, p-please?"

Alphys adjusted her glasses and folded her arms, leaning in to gaze at Green with an unreadable expression.

"You're... so cute?!"

Green blinked.

"I... I'm what?"

"Eeee!" Alphys squealed with an invigorated buck-toothed smile. "He's _adorable_ , Sans! Omigosh, look at your little _nose_!"

Alphys poked Green's nose with her clawed index finger. Green hunched his shoulders up to his ears to see if he could bury his face under his shirt collar. "But I... um!.. Aren't I a bit too... round to be cute?"

Alphys grabbed Green by the shoulders, making him squeak, and stared him dead in the eye. "Did someone say that to you? Well for their information, _round_ is scientifically the _cutest_ shape there is to be!"

Alphys stared until Green gave a small nod. Then, she continued to gush.

"We _have_ to check our affection statistics later to see how compatible we are! A-as friends! Not that I don't think you're-- um-- You're still just a bit too young for me? And-- Oh! You should join the fan club! We’ve got one other member already, but I kinda had to turn him into a human death machine. N-not that he’d actually kill you… probably. He’s been weird ever since I told him about how a monster can cross the barrier with just one human soul, but other than that he’s all for human rights, and--"

"Uh, Alphys," Sans interjected and looked over his shoulder for any eavesdroppers. "Maybe we can rave about humans _inside_ the house?"

"R-right!" Alphys exclaimed, glasses nearly slipping off her nose. "Come on in!" She swung the door wide open for Sans and Green to enter.

"Alphys works with Dad and me when things get busy," Sans elaborated. "But she's secretly started up a human fan club after finding some old human stuff in the dump."

"And oh my gosh? It's been so. Hard." Alphys flapped her arms to gesticulate every syllable. "Like, how am I supposed to defend humans when G_-**_ _literally_ asked me to make an entire tile puzzle full of death traps? And _then_ the king asked him to try and modify monster souls so we could stop waiting for humans, but what does Doctor Greatness do?" Alphys deepened her voice and scowled in a mockery of Gaster. "He’s all 'the gall of that oaf, expecting me to waste time experimenting on my own kind when there are humans to be slaughtered'. And then _I_ have to do it to make sure it doesn't look like he's slacking!"

Alphys shook in anger, then looked up at Sans. She waved a hand dismissively. "S-sorry! Went off on a rant again. I'm sure whatever you two are doing here is very important."

"Well, honestly? Things aren't going too well for anyone right now." Sans helped himself to a beanbag chair in Alphys' tiny living room, and waved Green over when he saw he was idling by the door. "Dad's definitely found out this kid is out of the Ruins by now, and we need some way of avoiding the unavoidable."

Well, that wasn't very reassuring. Green hugged his knees to his chest, and sank into the beanbag farthest from the window.

Alphys clasped her hands, twiddling her thumbs. "A-ah. Well, why don't we talk about it while I look for those tapes I mentioned the other day?" Alphys padded over to the television stand and began filing through a mess of DVD's and VHS's, her tail swiping across the carpeted flooring.

"Alph, I'm usually all for a good sci-fi anime, but I don't think it's gonna help us with this one. It always kind of bothered me how some of the death scenes are just people vanishing into sparkles anyway.”

"No no! The tapes I found in the _castle_! …And sometimes they do that so the shows don’t scare children! I found the tapes because I wanted to find out what humans were really like... Asgore still hasn't painted his home. It's all gray inside..." Alphys' eyes turned cold like steel. "Like... not the _normal_ \--"

Sans coughed.

Alphys blinked, eyes going round once more. She spun around to meet Green with a sweaty smile. "Oh, but hey! Anime!" She blurted in an abrupt switch of subject. "I've seen shows where humans can use fire magic! I know most humans can't use magic, but maybe you can learn? Humans used magic to seal the barrier a long time ago, after all."

Green smiled, though he highly doubted this was feasible. "M...maybe... I wouldn't want to hurt anyone..."

"Y-yeah! Cause you'd b-be like a hero!" Alphys continued, rambling even more rapidly now. "You like cooking, right? You c-could, um, wear the frying pan on your head-- and your apron as a cape! And no one would want to hurt you because you're so cool and strong and say things like-- Eat _this_!" Alphys' attempt at a heroic voice fell into more of a trembling squeak.

_'So they've been hiding something from us after all...'_

Sans spoke up, throwing a glance at Green, shrugging off Alphys’ odd behavior. "I was thinking more along the lines of building a time machine. My old man's already got one that can transport things. If we can rig it to transport people or even souls, we might have some way of going back to fix all this. I mean, I don't think stopping the war is a plausible idea, but maybe put a stop to whatever killed the king's son?"

Green bunched his apron in his hands and squeezed. Chara's feelings for their sibling hadn't died quiet yet, and they overflowed like a toxic waterfall in a thimble.

Chara would give anything to go back that far.

They could go back, and stick with their **original plan**.

"...Maybe we shouldn't...," Green whispered quietly.

_'I died anyway, didn't I? There's no denying that you-- you and all the souls before you are at stake because of me.'_

"C.... Can we really just go back like that?"

"Eh, probably not," Sans shrugged. "By why not just try? I'll put my backbone into, anyway."

_'All it took was one bad call from me... maybe two, and I condemned us all. I'd be glad to go back and end it all--'_

_Chara. One bad choice... doesn't mean you deserve to die for it. Please, for the sake of the people you said you call 'your family', don't dwell on that kind of thought. You don't deserve it._

Chara choked up a horrible laugh.

_'First you stand up for Gaster, and now for me? Doesn't any part of you want retribution for what's happened to you? You really are too kind for your own good… I’ve come too far to give up anyway.'_

"-llo? Kid!"

Green flinched, and Sans waved a skeletal hand in front of Green's eyes.

"Ya zoned out for a bit. Do you need to hit the sack?" Sans gave his beanbag chair a pat to highlight the joke, but Green shook his head.

"Here they are!" Alphys announced victoriously, pulling a cluster of VHS's from the back of the shelf. "All right! These are the tapes I wanted to show you! If this time travel thing really works... these tapes will help us get rid of the problem." She met the gaze of her audience with a stern nod, and pressed the play button on the TV.

_*KISS KISS FALL IN LOVE~*_

"No! No-- Wrong tape! _Wrong_ tape! That's not even supposed to be for VHS!"

The screen was immediately switched off with Alphys clattering about every button on the TV set.

Finally, the correct tape started playing.

_Pssst. Gorey, wake up._

_Mmm? What is it, dear? ... er, and why do you have that video camera_

"Err, Alphys?" Sans folded his hands over Green's eyes, although he was still able to see through the gaps in the bones. "Is there an age rating on this?"

Green's face grew hot, but his stomach churned like the rolling waves of the ocean. Neither he, nor Chara were happy to hear Toriel, despite her blissful, cheery voice in the tape.

"J-just listen, Sans!" Alphys hushed. "There's not even anything onscreen!"

_Shush! I want to get your reaction. Gorey, dearest. What is my favorite vegetable?_

Green eyed the tapes still sitting to the side, feeling a cough bubble up inside him.

"I... don't think I can watch this."

"What?" Sans tilted his head to look at Green, who was now bent forward clutching his stomach. “Are you going to be sick?"

"I just..."

_Hmmm... Carrots, right?_

_No no no! My favorite vegetable is... Eda-MOM-e. ... get it???_

Something stung.

Alphys paused the tapes, and made her way over to Green. She wasn't much of a medical doctor, but she placed her hand on his back for comfort.

"Wh-why don't you get some rest in the next room? It's pretty late..."

"Yeah," Sans offered, although his smile looked more plastic than usual. "We'll keep brainstorming, and eventually this will all just be... like a bad dream."

"I'm just... not sure..."

_I like this plan anymore._

"Here," Alphys put Green's arm over her shoulder. "I'll walk you to bed-- oh!" She bent down and picked something off the floor. "A flower fell out of your pocket, here."

"A-ah...," Green accepted with shaky recollection. "Y-yeah... it's... for... ah. Sh-shoot." He lowered his head and wiped his tears up with his sleeve before he could see if they were really water or not. "My mom was s-sick-- I d-didn't want to make you s-sad...."

He blubbered out the words, and Alphys shushed him as softly as she knew how. She didn't really seem sure of what to do herself, but she stammered "it's okay" over and over. She and Sans helped Green into the guest bedroom, and Green allowed himself to be guided by his older, yet slightly shorter pair of friends.

"Kiddo..." Sans exhaled, hunched over the bed for a brief rest. "I figured you'd get homesick... but I didn't think it'd be literal. Now look at me. Are you going to throw up? Do you need medicine?"

Green shook his head again.

"We'll be in j-just the other room if you need anything, okay? Please rest, you look like you _really need it_."

The pair of monsters each gave Green one final glance, and the room darkened to the faint red glow of Hotland.

Even though Sans turned on a radio, Green knew he wouldn't be sleeping anytime soon.

 

_______

 

_Why do you feel the need to do that?_

_'C'mon. We've both been suspicious of them all this time, and now we know we were right to be!'_

_They would've killed me by now if it was anything to worry about... I think you need to rest--_

_'Don't be stupid, I CAN'T rest! It's a blink from one death to another! Now be quiet- I can't hear with all your thinking.'_

Green sighed, and rolled over in the guest bed, watching Chara strain themselves in vain to hear Sans and Alphys outside the room. Chara couldn't wander much farther than a few feet.

_If you want to know what's going on, why don't I just tell them about you? And maybe they'll understand--_

_'They want to KILL me, Green. Just like everyone else. They want to FIX all this stupid garbage by going back in time and wiping me out of existence...'_

Chara slammed their fist at the wall. It went cold as it passed through.

_'If that's really all I am... someone who can mess up THIS badly. Then why the HELL was I even born?! Because I'll tell you something-- I CAN'T STAND THIS ANYM--'_

There was a crinkling sound like foil being unwrapped.

Chara swirled around to see the silky rectangular outline of a chocolate bar in Green's hands.

_I, um... I found some chocolate._

_'You... stole from Alphys? Or did you take it from Sans' place?'_ Chara gaped dumbfounded, pupils trained on the bar of candy. _'I can't believe this. The goody-goody hijacked sweets without me noticing.'_

"I-it's for a good reason!" Green justified aloud. "Your mouth was kind of, um... watery when you mentioned feeding the dog chocolate earlier, so... I was thinking of you and how good food always makes me feel a little more hopeful... It's not the most inspiring thing, and it's not always healthy... But I think it can work sort of like magic when you need it to, and I really want you to be able to feel okay again, and--"

Chara thumped a ghostly hand on the top of Green's head. _'All right, I get it,'_ they gave in, trying to act indifferent about it. _'You're trying to cheer me up, and that's... nice. But I want to be honest with you. Even if you somehow live to be old and lose all your hair... I don't think I'll ever feel normal again.'_

Green's eyelids fluttered in solemn acceptance. "We can't fix it all, can we? I might get caught before this 'human protection club' thing takes off... But if that happens, I know at least you'll be there for whoever falls after me."

Chara didn't speak another word, returning to placing their ear by the wall. Green took a satisfying bite out of the soft chocolate, and it melted in his mouth. Chara's pallid face became somewhat rosy at the sensation. It had been a while since they had tasted their favorite food.

 

_______

 

"It's the Grayscale. At least part of it," Sans' voice was muted behind the drywall. "A huge patch of it, trying to correct itself, but it's too big to just delete."

"A-and the data that _has_ been deleted?" Nervous claws scratched into the wood of an abused coffee table.

"Alpha parameter. A lot of that data's still there, it's just beyond our reach."

"S-so... What's the cause, then? You think it's--"

"Yeah," Sans' voice got lower, and Chara risked going numb to listen more closely. "Don't wake him up... I think I get why Dad was so stressed, now. It's not the humans that are the problem. It's just one of them. The one with the resolve to change fate."

There was a muffled whimper. "Y-you're not going to hurt him, a-are you?"

"Our outcomes are getting narrower and narrower with time, and so far... well, none of them are good. I dunno, Alph. I know he wouldn't do it on purpose, but... _that_ ending has to exist somehow. Judging from his reaction to the tapes, and what they ended up being I can only assume he's got more inner demons than just anxiety. You've got the blueprints, right?"

Chara gritted their teeth.

Green tip-toed over to listen with them.

"W-well, _yes_ , b-but--"

"We might need that machine you rebuilt. Asgore let you extract Determination from the souls, right? We know it can work without damaging them."

"Y-you said the last human that went through it..."

"I know what I said. I just... Do what you can, and hope it doesn’t to come to this."

It wouldn't have to.

The moment the extractor was mentioned, Chara and Green pried open a window and fled the house.

The dead remains of the machine had been much too vivid to be contained by Chara's memories alone, and Green started at every shadow that fell across the mechanized walkways of Hotland.

He kept his frying pan close, just in case, but his cough was tearing into his throat from running.

He coughed a trail of inky fluid spattered across the dry orange rock.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "If any of thine be driven out unto the outmost parts of heaven, from thence will the Lord thy God gather thee, and from thence will he fetch thee" Deutoronomy 30:4 (KJV)
> 
> A bit of a shorter chapter.
> 
> I would've had it done sooner, but I had a hectic night last night that involved a Japanese dialogue presentation getting finished at 1:30 am. I took a shower and came back to my room in my bathrobe to discover my group partners and friends invited one of the international students over to help... and I wasn't wearing any pants.
> 
> Up Next: Wait, where are you going?


	24. Out Of The Frying Pan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Green attempts to escape the extractor, but is there anywhere left to hide?

_'So, do you give up yet?'_

“…”

_'I was right about him... He's more concerned about getting rid of me than he is with keeping you alive.'_

_'I won't lie, I can tell it's getting close to the end for you.'_

_'Your plan failed, and you can't trust anyone to save you. Your death is their salvation, after all._

_'Do you want me to make it easier?'_

_**”…”** _

_'I just don’t want you to have to suffer.'_

Green’s nails dug into his scalp, trying to calm his confused breaths. He was tucked hidden behind a mound of rust-red Hotland boulders.

In the panic of fleeing Alphys' home, his apron had come loose, gotten caught by a gust of hot wind, and carried off someplace.

He was exposed without a safe haven to flee to. Chara had already considered him lost.

_'I don’t think lava would get the job done fast enough. I seem to remember that burning to death isn't exactly painless.'_

Green wiped his mouth on his sleeve, the fabric coming back stained with the tar-like substance produced from his throat. This wasn't just some sickness after all. His eyelids drooped, feeling out of place in his own body.

_'...You want to know what this stuff is? I have a theory. The last kid coughed up this gunk before he died too. It was all a blur, but I definitely felt it- it all happened after we were put through that machine... I think I infected you.'_

_'If that's the case, it's a wonder why your health hasn't been drained away to zero. The karma didn’t kill the last kid, so I figured it was this stuff that did. Who knows? Maybe you're just weird... I wonder if Sans and Alphys could actually fix this if they separated us--'_

"They wanted to hurt you..."

Chara didn't offer a reaction to the comment. _'What, you're not at all scared of what the extractor could do to YOU? Can you honestly say it's only me you're worried about?... Haha. I don't understand you.'_

“They wanted to hurt you, and you’ve already been through so much. I won’t go along with Sans’ idea if it means you’re going to disappear while you feel…” Green waded through Chara’s numb thoughts, sensing all the mess that they’d been through. He couldn’t think of a word to describe the extent of desolation.

Chara chuckled, not in dismay for Green's naivety, but because they found it was easy to laugh. When they found that there was something horrible they could not change, they found that laughing at it might make it hurt less.

_'I don't understand you, and I don't understand this science stuff. I mean, Grayscale, sure. Sometimes stuff turns gray before it's erased, I've seen that before, but that alpha something whatever Sans mentioned? Yeah I've got no clue... Ugh, whatever. It won’t matter if it’s going to kill us either way.'_

Green stopped clawing at his head when he realized his nails were coming back with red beneath them. He tucked his hands under his armpits and started pacing.

What now?

He didn't want the extractor to take Chara away, and he couldn't go back to Snowdin. He couldn't stay in one place for too long, or someone was bound to find him. He couldn't just go straight to Asgore and get out...

Could he?

_'Asgore, huh? It's been a while... Apparently he's been having second thoughts about this whole child murder thing, but... Well, he'd make quick work of it if you don't make a move against him.'_

"I don't want to die," Green whispered, gazing over the rolling magma.

_'Right. You've ‘got somewhere to go’.'_ Chara kicked a pebble into the sea of fire below. It melted out of existence, merging with the glowing tide. _'Just be straightforward with me. Your mom- she died, didn't she? She was sick, and you came to get flowers for her grave.'_

Now it was Green’s turn to expel a broken laugh, and this _did_ surprise Chara.

"That's only half the story," Green kicked a rock of his own, and it vanished over the edge. "I don't even know if she passed or not."

_'What? How do you not know something like that?'_

Green shook his head, ashamed, and kicked another stone with greater force. "I ran away. It was just an excuse I made up- go find flowers for tea. Just so I wouldn't have to say goodbye. Just so I wouldn't have to watch her die."

Chara wasn't numb enough to remain guiltless for asking so bluntly. _'I'm sorry. I should've known not to bring it up--'_

"No, no. You think of me like I'm some lost puppy, but you should know what I really am before I die. I've been denying it. And the best part? She just said okay." Green and Chara's expression of grief was displayed in contrast, but with the same intensity. The tears wouldn't stop pouring from his eyes, and he kicked several rocks over the edge at once.

"She said it— _smiling_ \-- even after all her hair was gone and she couldn’t leave the bed! There's _nowhere_ for me to go... but if I let myself die here, my soul won't go to the place where she is. So here I am! _Kindness_! Compensating my cowardice by helping people in her place, and that’s the bitter truth. I’m using them as much as they intend to use me—as a selfish means to an end!"

His voice rebounded off the cavern ceiling, and lingered for what seemed like an eternity. The strain of the shout stirred up the cough again—this time permanently staining his sleeve. Chara peered around the mound of boulders to make sure no one was around to hear him.

"But it's not enough,” he continued through a raspy wheeze. “How could it be? As much as I might try, sometimes you just have to accept that there’s nothing you can do to save someone—even yourself. Cooking, writing, singing-- it doesn't matter what you do for others if it's done with an empty heart. The good memories fade and the bad ones stick like tar. Another tattered photo for the miserable collage."

He hadn’t felt this way when he offered to help Grillby’s, Chara was sure of it. But now his determination was gone. Chara felt a pulse of adrenaline inside them. _'Whoa, just take a step back for a minute. Don't beat yourself up over circumstances. You’re not responsible for taking care of everyone. Sometimes you need to do things for yourself, not for the sake of being useful, but just because you enjoy it! It's... just…'_

Chara didn't know if they could pep talk their way out of this one. They hadn't really had someone who had felt so similarly to them before. And Chara couldn’t really tell Green not to blame himself when that’s what they’d been doing to themselves this whole time.

Hopeless.

_'It sucks. You've made bad calls. Your mom didn't do anything to deserve getting sick. But she got sick anyway. Do you blame HER for that?'_

Green stared at the ground, saying nothing. Chara could feel his answer.

_'It's the same with you. It's not your fault either.'_

Green's rubbed at his reddened eyes with what little un-stained sections of his sleeve remained. "… I guess there isn't a person alive who isn't a hypocrite… I just hate myself for being so inconsistent."

Chara frowned, prepared to try again, but Green cradled his own cheek with the palm of his hand. "Chara. I don't want you to die, either. I will do what I can to keep going."

Chara blushed, still unused to Green’s tenderness.

To be the reason someone was trying to stay alive was nothing to turn up your nose at. Like living for a hobby, it wasn't ideal- a person shouldn't have their existence rely on temporary, circumstantial things. Chara knew they'd caused him a great deal of heartache with their presence, but if they were what he thought he needed, so be it.

After a while, Green let his hand drop, and went back to pacing. There was still no telling which direction he should go. If he was too predictable, there was no doubt Sans would find him again.

It put him on edge.

Regrettably, to the point of error.

He was quick to draw his frying pan in defense when fireball-like monsters hurtled themselves at him.

He timed his block poorly, and swung with too much force.

Green choked on the fluid rising in his throat.

His pan struck one of the monsters with a critical blow.

It's smoldering dust scorched the edges of the tired old pan.

 

_______

 

Green walked briskly away from the scene, struggling to keep the dark bile from rising in his panic.

He heard laughter.

It trilled across the walls with the sound of faint, arachnoid skittering.  
He pushed his way through the crypt of a hall, pushing webs aside with his pan. In a shock from his actions and unable to reset, he was plagued by paranoia. Spiders should not be able to talk.

_*Did you see what he just did?*_

_I didn’t mean to. I’ll fix it! As soon as I can-- I’ll go back and fix it…_

Green felt several sets of eyes trained on his back as he exited the hall. He covered his ears to block out the noise that wasn’t there.

He needed someplace to clear his head, and didn’t stop walking until he made it to an old apartment building. It had a sign hung on the glass doors.

[Under Renovations: MTT Resort- Coming Soon].

“Huh,” Chara muttered aloud. “Looks like Mettaton and Napstablook’s career finally took off.”

“Napsta-wha?” spoke an unseen voice.

Green flinched, but it was just an elderly slime monster. It didn’t seem interested in picking a fight.

“Last I heard, Mettaton works solo… I might’ve heard of a Shy- something or other who used to sing alongside him, though.”

Chara scrunched Green’s face into a frown. The ghost duo had seemed so close. Then again, it had probably been a long time since they had the concert with…

Chara shook their head. “Well what happened to her then?”

The old monster was already shambling his way to an apartment room, and squinted at the keyhole, struggling to remember. “Got sick, maybe? Either that or someone close to her did. It’s been going around.”

“It? What’s ‘it’?”

The monster huffed loudly, as if the question was some great burden he had to bear. “How would I know if our so-called _doctors_ can’t even figure it out? Probably just another fuss over food poisoning or something knowing the competence of our medical department these days… Don't you have anything better to do than harass strangers? Watch the news!”

The door was slammed in Green’s face, and he was left alone in the dilapidated hall. He sat down on the floor with his back to the peeling wall, just needing a quick rest. He was still unable to reset, and that monster had left Green feeling like he’d eaten a meal of rocks and dirt.

If he went much farther past the building, he would run into Asgore. Somehow, he didn’t feel all that confident that he could talk his way around him. He could always try hiding in New Home. It was crowded there, but maybe it would be easier to keep a low profile?

Green sighed, burying his curls into his folded arms. He’d never get out of the Underground at this rate. He turned his head, hearing someone enter the building, headed his way. He hoped the residents weren’t hostile.

Green kept his movements slow, and silently crept out the back door.

For some odd reason, the apartment building was connected to the Core by a narrow bridge, fading from wooden planks to metal panels.

Below the bridge was lava, and on the metal half of the bridge was a stalky silhouette.

The hair stood straight on the back of Green’s neck.

“Heya,” Sans greeted casually, yet with an undeniably serious undertone.

Green shuffled a few steps back.

“So you still think I’m going to hurt you…” Sans regarded Green with a reclined stance. Relaxed as he seemed, Green couldn’t shake the feeling that Sans could have him pinned to the ground in zero seconds flat. “Well, I guess that would explain why you took that _window_ of opportunity to run away earlier… What’s eatin’ you, kid?”

“…Are you actually pretending that you don’t know I heard you and Alphys talking? I’m not… going back with you.”

“We aren’t trying to kill you.”

Sans stepped forward.

Green stepped back.

“Because I’m ‘innocent’? Because we’re ‘friends’? Or am I just a convenient way of getting rid of—“

“Don’t say the name,” Sans’ eyelights flickered, then he turned his palms upward. “I know you’re trying to be nice to everybody, and not _just_ because you want to go home. But a kid like you shouldn’t get mixed up with bad company—“

“I’m a murderer, Sans.”

Sans went rigid.

His eye flashed blue almost out of instinct, and it twitched as he quickly extinguished it-- like he didn’t want to know. But it had glowed long enough for him to confirm Green’s increased LV.

His smile was cold as stone.

“I’ve killed. Even before we met, I’ve killed. So understand- when you tell me you value my life over Chara’s, know that you don’t actually know what either of us are really like.” It was Green’s turn to take a step forward. Sans turned away. “And you would’ve killed me for it. It’s because of Chara’s power to reset that I was able to make myself ‘innocent’ again.”

If Green was going down, he wouldn’t go down drowning in a façade.

Sans sighed, stuffing his hands into his pockets. He faced Green again, eyes hollow and dark.

Green swallowed.

“So… you think you’re the same,” Sans began slowly. He took another step forward. “Last I checked, you didn’t have the potential to destroy the world… If this ‘friend’ of yours is as benevolent as they claim, they’d give themselves up and stop all this before it’s too late. There’s no other way.”

“That’s not fair!” Green cried passionately. His words faded into echoes across the chasm that threatened to open beneath him.

“You’re _killing me_ kid… We don’t have much time left, so I’ll give you the abridged version.” Sans dragged his foot horizontally across the bridge, drawing a line. “To put things in perspective, if you cross this line in this timeline, your chances of surviving drop to a solid _zero_ percent. And even if you turn around and head back where you came from, your chances are slim to none.”

Sans stretched out an open hand.

“I still want to help you.”

“Sans…” Green shook the dust free from his hair, and it floated downward. He wouldn’t get the chance to reset after all. “Thank you for trying… but it is my choice. I’m not going with you.”

Sans clenched his offered hand into a fist and let it drop to his side. “Yeah… The chances of you agreeing to this were also slim to none. It’s your choice. And it’s going to get you killed... And I don’t even, heh, have the _heart_ to force you.”

“Thank yo—“

“Don’t,” Sans snapped. “Don’t thank me for this. Just… don’t cross the bridge.”

Green gave a solemn nod, and grasped the door handle to the apartment building.

“Sans?”

Sans wouldn’t look at him anymore.

“I won’t be mad… If you choose to forget me.”

 

_______

 

After Sans’ warning, Chara really shouldn’t have been so surprised to see that Hotland had become riddled with guards on patrol. Clearly they had drawn too much attention in Snowdin. It couldn’t be helped now. There was no time to catch a breath to regain Green’s determination. They would try their best to make it to Waterfall.

They’d gotten fairly close, too.

They’d made it all the way to the conveyor belts and air jets before an inevitable event caused Green to collapse.

His pan hit the ground with a metallic clang, and the heads of a pair of guards turned like owls, wide-eyed and searching in his direction.

Green’s mind was severed in two, and stretched thin to reach back to the Ruins.

Chara had forgot this kind of pain-- they hadn’t thought they’d ever feel it again.

But with the crash from a great height and the scent of crushed flowers, there was that sensation of double vision once more.

Chara hung loosely between souls five and six.

And they were both in pain.

It must’ve been storming on the surface. The flowerbed was filled to the ankles with mud, and flashes of lightning pierced through the opening above. The dreary sunset wind held the crisp cinnamon scent of decaying leaves. Chara had been mistaken by the cool temperature when Green had fallen.

It wasn’t Spring.

It was Fall.

Green keeled over from the searing pain. Screaming like this, it was no wonder his odds were so slim.

_’The guards are coming.’_

Green said nothing, his breaths broken and shattered.

_’I can’t save your body from what’s about to happen, but let me take your pain for myself.’_

But Green just shook his head, the rest of him shaking as well. It actually felt like he was trying to push Chara away.

The guards were upon them now, yet were hesitant to attack. Green didn’t look the type to kill senselessly, especially in this state. Even so, the law was the law. They muttered beneath their executioner-like masks and looking at each other in uncertainty.

_’Physical pain means nothing to me by this point,’_ Chara feverishly attempted to persuade Green. _’Don’t waste your kindness on me!’_

Rather than accepting Chara’s offer, Green had managed to force Chara out of his body completely, turning them into their ghost-like state. Terrified as he was, his resolve to take the burden onto himself was unshakable. He made it known with his eyes.

_I-it’s n-not wasted…_

Chara didn’t see which guard swung first.

The blunt end of a battle-axe collided with Green’s head with a sharp crack.

_’NO!I can’t let you die this way! Please—‘_

Chara was snapped to the sixth soul, who had begun to stir, but they desperately rushed back to Green’s side before the warmth drained completely.

_’You call yourself selfish? YOU IDIOT! You don’t even know what your compassion meant to me! You idiot…..’_

Green didn’t give any indication of hearing them.

The blades rose.

Chara wasn’t sure if they could watch.

They felt a feather-light nudge urge them away.

The kid from the Ruins had confronted a monster now. She didn’t seem too pleased at being attacked out of the blue, drawing a weapon from her side.

Could she run here?

It was too far.

Maybe she could reset?

She would only go back a few seconds.

_’I--….’_

There was nothing they could do.

_’I’m going to get help!’_

The blades swung down, and Chara fled to the Ruins.

 

_______

 

It hurt…

All of it.

Why did they have to hesitate?

If they weren’t going to spare him, it’d be better to just get this over with…

At least Chara had gone…

To be hit with such hesitant blows meant a slower death.

The blade struck again.

But Green was remained alive, his vitals still intact.

He didn’t even have the strength to grit his teeth.

_Just a little longer… I’ll endure it just a little longer…_

Then for some reason-

The blades stopped.

He couldn’t make out the individual figures around him, and he couldn’t distinguish who had showed up. Everything melted together with the reds and oranges.

He felt himself taken into a pair of careful, bony arms.

Sans.

He was carrying him off somewhere.

Green smiled sadly.

Was he still trying to save him?

It wasn’t feasible by this point.

Green rolled over and tried to focus his eyes on Sans’ blurred form.

Green’s voice was long since lost, and so he reached a feeble hand to Sans’ face, hoping his message would be understood.

He didn’t want to apologize this time. He wanted to thank Sans for all he had done to help, even if it had been in vain.

At the very least, he wanted to say goodbye.

Green blinked his clouded eyes, his fingers falling across the grooves in his friend’s face.

They caught on something.

They traced a fracture line grooved into the pale white bone.

They lingered there, stiff from revelation.

“Took your time, didn’t you? …Did you manage to make any new friends?”

Green began to tremble.

A hand took hold of his, and held it to the stranger’s face.

“Would you be so kind as to befriend this tired old man? You wouldn’t want to _fight me_ , would you?”

_Please… I want to go to my mother._

Green opened and closed his mouth noiselessly like a fish on a hook.

“Shh… That’s enough suffering for you. Like a hermit crab sheds its shell.”

Green sputtered a wretched cough.

“And nothing more.”

**[File erased]**

 

_______

 

“Move aside, Ma’am.”

“No!”

The loaded revolver took aim at the Ruins-keeper.

“I’d rather not hurt you. So this is your warning. Get out of my way.”

“I will not!”

Yellow tilted her hat out of her face to get a better look at the woman. Clearly she wasn’t in her right mind, but that was no excuse to try and hold someone against their will.

She sighed and returned her revolver to its holster, deciding against lethal force for this fight.

As she weaved through the flames, she bit the four-leafed clover between her teeth, finding hilarious irony that it had fallen with her.

The last time she had been attacked-- it had been with the intent to kill, and a voice from the dead recited the crimes of the Underground.

What freedom was worth the torment of seven human children?

There had been attempts at pacifism.

Now--

There would be justice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Doing nothing through rivalry or through conceit, but in humility, each counting others better than himself" Philippians 2:3 (WEB)
> 
> A short chapter, but I like the way this one came out. (The previous chapter and this one were originally going to be one, but it would've been way too long).
> 
> I liked writing Green, but I think I'm a little better at writing angst than fluff.
> 
> Other titles for Green's chapters might've included 'Strength to Spare' and 'Killing Them With Kindness'.
> 
> Up Next: It's high noon/ what in tarnation (There I said it, now I won't have to ever again... probably)


	25. Eye For An Eye: The Gateway To The Soul

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yellow know what she has to do, but it's not just monsters she has to watch out for.

"You're here much later than you should be," Grillby noted, leaning across his newly repaired countertop. "...What can I get you?"

"Nothing tonight, Grillbz. Not really in the mood," Sans mumbled through his arms folded over his face. In reality, he wasn't late, but early. "Heh... Actually, maybe a cup of ice?"

"Ice?" Grillby asked confused. "Not anything with it or even ketchup?"

"Nah," Sans groaned, lifting his tired head. "Just--"

The door to the restaurant burst open with paintings and clocks threatening to fly off the wall.

"...ice."

The late-night customers turned their heads at the stranger as she approached the counter. They had well learned their lesson from last time, but watched with loathsome sneers.

Yellow was undaunted by their glares laced with predisposition, and deposited a handful of Gold on the counter.

"Eggs," she tipped her hat at the bartender, perching on the stool next to Sans. "Please."

Grillby gave a slight start at her appearance. For a moment there he'd thought she was... But he brushed the thought away to fulfill the order.

"Y'know," Sans propped his droopy head up with an arm. "Grillby usually stops serving eggs by two."

"I had a feeling I'd find you here," Yellow spoke low, voice hinting of a slight accent.

"Had a feeling you'd look for me here," Sans retorted, picking at the lint on his jacket. "And if I had to guess I'd say you want to know where my old man is."

" **Where?**?"

Her eyes burned like fire with the intent to put the judge on trial.

"Couldn't tell ya if I wanted to."

"Huh." Yellow relaxed her arms on the counter to join Sans.

Grillby returned, serving Yellow a plate of sunny-side ups and Sans a glass of ice. Yellow immediately began shoveling the food into her mouth like her life depended on it. Sans watched the glass as its condensation dripped onto the hardwood.

"Then you've got it too... but I'll bet you can't heal yourself from it like he could."

Yellow narrowed her eyes at Sans, unable to talk with her mouth stuffed full. It was true though. Every time she coughed, a bit of her health was drained. She rationalized snagging an extra few pieces of monster candy and cinnabunnies for that reason.

"Is that why you're LV is that high?" Sans ran a bony finger down the side of his glass, eyelights extinguished. "So you could have more health?"

"I didn't kill anyone who wasn't planning to kill me first," Yellow defended, wiping her mouth on her sleeve. "And I'm sure you're thrilled. Just two more lives to rob and everyone goes free. And me? I'll just be another face on a milk carton."

Sans stirred the ice without a word.

"Tell me, what would you do if someone aimed to destroy you and everyone you loved? Just stand there and let it happen?"

"I..." Sans began, before closing his eyes and turning the question back around. "What would _you_ do if you found out there was nothing you could do to prevent their deaths? No matter what you did?"

"I'd try _anyway_."

"All I’m saying is that justice without patience is often misguided… Would you try to save them even if it meant you'd have to kill someone who used to be your friend... In one way or another?"

"If they hurt the people I care about like that... then they're no friend of mine!" Yellow jabbed her fork at Sans before polishing off the rest of her plate.

"So that's how it is... Well, thanks for the input." Sans swirled the melting ice around in a sort of hypnosis. "See, I'm not as interested in being a scientist as I'd thought I'd be. I asked Gerson if he needed a replacement, but I just don't have the... eye for justice like he did. So thanks, I guess."

Sans hopped down from the bar stool and sauntered to the door. Yellow furrowed her brow. She was supposed to have been asking _him_ questions, and then he just leaves mid conversation?

"By the way," Sans called from across the bar. "Your math's off. Asgore only has _four_ souls."

 

_______

 

 

_'There's another one! Try again.'_

"I've _been_ trying."

_'Aaaand nothing. I didn't think I'd ever lose that power completely. You must not be as determined as you say you are.'_

Yellow swiped her hand through the star, unable to make it chime since she’d been in the Ruins. Waterfall didn't have many monsters wandering through, so it would've been an optimal opportunity to save. "I don't know what you mean by 'determination' then. I've never been angrier or had more resolve to hunt down a criminal. Whether he's killed four or five or even just one child, I can't let this go any further!"

_'I could've sworn there were five before you. Sans has to have heard wrong.'_

"Maybe you counted yourself. Unless, counting you, here were actually six kids who fell before me, in which case that makes me lucky number seven." Yellow chewed the end of the clover and plotted out the path she would take across the river to avoid a herd of falling rocks.

_'Careful, I might not be able to bring you back to life. With defense like that, you're pretty much a glass canon.'_

"Well I bought something from that shop-" Yellow tugged at the apricot bandanna tied around her neck. "Kinda liked the look, too."

_'Wait, you're wearing a bandana and a hat at the same time??'_

"...Yeah?"

_'Nothing. Never mind.'_

Raised defense or not, whoever placed those rocks at the top of the waterfall really knew how to make a blockade.

"...Dagummit. They just don't stop, do they? Give me a sec--"

Yellow placed her hands to the ground and kicked up her feet, observing the waterfall again from upside down.

_'...What are you doing?'_ Chara sighed doubtingly.

"Getting the blood to my head. Helps me think more clearly."

_'Uh-huh. Sure. Do you see a way through, or what?'_

"I... hear something." Yellow titled an ear toward the ground, her braid dragging across the dirt.

Chara heard it too.

A sort of scratching sound burrowed under the earth, encircling around them.

Yellow was quick to dodge the shadow that shot from the ground, but teetered off balance into another waiting shadow.

It constricted around her arms before she could reach her revolver, and yanked until it felt as if her limbs would tear off. She couldn’t even struggle.

“In a bit of a bind, arn’tcha?”

Yellow jerked her head in the direction of the hidden voice.

“ _Hee hee hee…._ Boy, you’ll NEVER kill the Doctor if you’re caught _this_ easily! But that’s just fine- I’m new here, too. Why don’t I show you how I can help you out?”

“I don’t want _any_ sort of help from a crooked sneak who finds fun in tying up—“

A ring of bullets circled round, and pierced Yellow’s heart to shards.

 

_______

 

Yellow stood on her hands, save point far out of her reach.

She immediately sprung away from the spot, eyes darting at the ground.

No vines appeared to snatch at her.

“Howdy!” chirped the voice.

Yellow spun around quickly with an even quicker draw of her revolver, aiming at the tiny flower. “Howdy,” she responded bitterly, and pulled the trigger.

“Whoop!” The flower ducked underground, appearing just a little farther away. “Might want to be careful where you shoot. How tragic would it be if you shot your new friend? Especially after bringing you back to life!” He giggled like it was a joke, smiling through warped, thorny teeth.

“Bringing me back to life?” Chara scrutinized the flower resembling the flora they used to fawn over. “Wait-- _you_ have power over determination?”

“ _Thaaat’s right~._  Whoever has the most determination calls the shots! But don’t worry, your good friend Flowey’ll make sure you never run out of resets again!”

Now there was a name Chara could sympathize with. They’d never seen a monster like Flowey before, if he even _was_ a monster, but his parents must’ve had the same taste in names Asgore did.

“I’ll erase your memories of dying, too, so you won’t go crazy from the excruciating agony. Isn’t that wonderful?” Flowey continued, bright-eyed and budding with enthusiasm. “I’ll let you remember this one though. You’ll have to remember my helpful abilities somehow!”

_… Not sure if I buy what the clump of crabgrass is selling. What’s in it for him? His petals are gold, but I’m willing to bet his roots are bitter._

_’ Well it wouldn’t be the first time someone’s helped me for no reason. Or maybe he really does just want to kill us. Either way, with him in control of the resets, best play along for now.’_

Yellow scowled at the plant, but begrudgingly lowered her weapon.

“Partners?” Flowey extended a vine like a normal handshake.

“Partners,” Yellow grumbled as her hand met his.

 

_______

 

The dust lay thick on Yellow’s boots, and Flowey was practically squealing with delight.

“So you understand! You fight back with offense as your best defense to avoid getting killed. You’d think that’d be obvious, but some people just don’t have a grasp on real justice.”

Ironically it felt more like karma.

Yellow certainly didn’t take pleasure in fighting the way Flowey did. As much as the monsters ‘deserved it’, she couldn’t help but wonder who would win if she were to face them in trial. The monsters had families that cared about them, but so did she. The monsters freedom would be achieved through her death, but so would a horrible war between them and the humans. It was no wonder the king didn’t cross by now, and she felt remorse for initially seeing him as a fool.

“Say. I couldn’t help but notice, but you didn’t kill Toriel. Did you?”

Flowey toyed with a nearby Echo flower, and it reverberated with a desolate ‘did you?’.

“Why would I? She didn’t try to kill me, and she was practically senile when I saw her. It’s not a crime to be crazy.”

“Good to know. Good to know,” Flowey mused and plucked the Echo flower from it’s roots. “But you _do_ realize that stronger monsters give more LV, don’t you?”

“I figured.”

“Well some monsters give _a lot_. For example, Sans has a brother who’s pretty strong when he wants to be. He’d give about 200 EXP.”

“…You’d know from experience, then?”

“Of _course_ not!” Flowey tossed the Echo flower in the water and watched it vanish over the edge of the falls. “Papyrus is my friend- just like you! He even started a fan club about me!”

“Sounds like a nice guy.”

“Yeah. But he’d lose his head if it weren’t attached.” Flowey tore his eyes away from the waterfall to lock eyes with Yellow. “Now I know you won’t hurt anyone _innocent_ , but hear me out. There’s a monster here in Waterfall who will give a generous amount EXP, _and_ she wants to kill you dead.” Flowey beamed up at Yellow, his roots curling in excitement. “I thought we’d pay her a visit.”

Yellow understood his logic, but going out of her way to provoke others into fighting her didn’t feel like justice.

Then again, was it reasonable to convict someone if you knew what they would do given the chance? Undoubtedly, murdering someone was a crime. But if a person has a special power to prevent death of any sort, shouldn’t it be used to create a scenario in which death is minimal?

But if she didn’t have enough EXP, she wouldn’t be able to prevent Gaster from killing anyone in the future.

Another dilemma.

“Golly, you sure are torn up about this, huh?” Flowey bent forward on his stem with a sly smile. “Fortunately, I anticipated this, and started this conversation in a place I knew Undyne would eventually show up.”

“Wait, _wha--_ ”

Flowey vanished under the rubble of earth, and a rough voice pierced through the howling cavern wind.

“ **Seven**.”

Yellow twisted around. A burly fish-monster conjured a spear and thrust it at Yellow in accusation.

“Seven human souls, and king Asgore will become a god… We have four… but I’m about to make it five.”

Yellow wanted to stomp Flowey into the ground.

“I’ve been _dying_ to find out how tough humans can be,” Undyne dominated with her two flaring eyes. “But I’ll give you a chance to turn yourself in… What’s it going to be, human?”

Yellow lowered her head, hiding her face in the shade of her hat.

There wasn’t a clear right or wrong. It was one warrior facing another, each with their own cause. It was all gray.

“I guess if it’s just my choice, then…” Yellow drew forth her revolver. “I think I’d rather live.”

Undyne grinned, baring her razor sharp teeth.

“I was hoping you’d say that. But let’s see how long you last--”

An orchard of spears instantaneously punctured the earth around Yellow.

“BRINGING A GUN TO A SPEAR FIGHT!! NGAAAAAAAHHHHHHH”

Undyne’s battle cry roared over the rush of the falls, the spike of her spear grazing Yellow’s cheek.

Yellow ducked to the side, kicking up a spray of murky water and debrisin her wake. She unloaded a round of bullets at Undyne, barely doing damage- even with her levels.

The only part of her that wasn’t covered by armor was her face.

Undyne was upon her again before she had a chance to reload.

Her souls was dyed pale green, and her feet were frozen in place. Spears were coming in fast, and Yellow caught the first one, intending to use it to block the others.

“Your reflexes aren’t bad,” Undyne lashed out with round after round of spears like comets. “But you can’t possibly beat me with bullets that _run out!_ ”

The spears kept on coming, hammering into the weary shield-spear.

Undyne wasn’t going to let up until Yellow was skewered.

Yellow couldn’t keep up, and one of the spears got through, clipping her in the side of her torso. After that, it wasn’t long before a second one struck, this time catching her in the leg.

She crumbled down, kneeling and out of breath. “Not… bad…,” she wheezed. “Don’t reckon… you’d call it a draw?”

“For everyone’s freedom—“ Undyne charged, spear poised to kill.

“YOUR SOUL IS MINE!!”

The spear stabbed through the air, aligned at Yellow’s head.

“Alright then… **draw**.”

The spear cut into Yellow’s eye at the same time the shot rang out.

Yellow registered that she’d hit her target, but she felt herself being pulled back at twice the speed of gravity, into Flowey’s reset.

 

_______

 

“Can’t go on fighting Gast-r if you’ve only got one good leg, can you?”

They had landed back in the cavern, a short ways away from where Undyne attacked.

Yellow was silent, and placed her hand to her face.

“Well, I guess being ka-bobbed wouldn’t help either. That was a pretty close call on my end, but I tend to get rusty after the seventh try or so.” Flowey bounced on his stem, eager to start again. “Ready for round thirteen--? Hey. What’s the matter with you?”

Yellow raised her head out of the shadow cast by her hat.

Her left eye was gone.

“I… don’t know.”

Flowey grimaced at the sight.

“Oh _wow_ … I guess it was a little _too_ close, huh? I knew Gill-Gullet had unnaturally high determination, but I didn’t think it was enough for her to attempt at a save like that. She must’ve been pretty adamant about keeping that win!”

“…What are you talking about?” Yellow asked, confused.

“Um, hello?? _You just lost your eye_?”

“I’ve always been missing an eye… I think.”

_’You can’t even remember your own eye? It’s a part of you… so I guess it got erased, too. This memory stuff is probably much worse than we even realize.’_

“Whatever, amnesiac. It better not have turned you into a lousy shot,” Flowey said rolling his eyes, then twisted into a horrid grin. “Well would you look at that.”

Undyne was passing through, suspicious, but giving no sign of seeing Yellow.

Her left eye was missing as well.

“And she’s none the wiser! Oh, that’s _rich_! You both look just like Gerson with _his_ wonky eye!” Flowey howled with cruel laughter. Yellow stared at him with incredulity as he wiped away his joyous tears. “You know, for someone who acts like they’ve befriended me against their will, you’re a pretty good pal to hang around with- being the powerful opponent you are.”

Yellow certainly didn’t consider him a friend. She was doing the same things she would’ve done if she hadn’t encountered the flower. He just had a knack for timing things the way he wanted.

“Like I said, I fight those who attack me first,” she scoffed, brushing off his empty flattery. “And I’ll fight anyone who tries to harm the guiltless, too.”

“Right, right. You told me about it in a different run, right before you got squashed by a boulder.” Flowey stirred his roots around in the water, eyes lidded like he was thinking of something perfectly vile. “Your resolve for vindication, for retribution, it all came about after those two events… But maybe I shouldn’t get you all worked up by talking about it?”

“I would prefer if you wouldn’t _bring that up_ ,” Yellow rasped from behind the bandana.

“Of course! I wouldn’t want to be _insensitive_. Anyone would get upset about a teenager who opens fire in a crowded restaurant… Or was it the creep who hounded you all the way up this mountain that made you the way you are? ”

Yellow clamped her teeth down on the clover, and clenched Flowey’s stem in her hand.

“I’m beginning to think you’re not so different from them either. So why don’t you **shut your yap** before I pay you back for wrapping me up earlier.”

“Oh, Yellow,” Flowey giggled, patting her hand with a leaf. “You know there’s no point in trying to kill me. Cheer up why don’t you? You’re going to be the hero who avenged the fallen children! Won’t that be the prettiest way to end this long and hectic mess? Besides… If you try and take back control over the resets, you’ll be back to the old death-loop method.”

Chara ground Yellow’s heel deep into the mud, but released the flower.

He smirked, and proceeded to contort his face in the reflection of the water.

Is this what they had sounded like when _they_ told the kids about the resets? But they had been through death after death, reset after reset to get to the state of mind they were in now. They wouldn’t say they’d had to reset more than about two hundred times. So…

“Flowey,” Chara gazed at the flower as he gazed at his rippling mirror.

“Hm~?”

“…How many times have you reset?”

“Hee…” Flowey twisted upside down on his stem, and made a hollow-eyed menace of a face at his reflection. “I lost count somewhere around nine thousand nine hundred ninety-nine!”

It was clear as day.

The childish flower had lost his mind.

_’We can’t leave him in control like this—I’m certain he’ll try and kill us again,’_ Chara concluded, more on edge than they could remember being in a while. _’We can avoid the loops if we regain control AFTER taking out Gaster, but if he predicts our betrayal before then we’re as good as dead… Keep acting aloof.’_

“But I’m sure there’s still a way to salvage this run! We can take out the little guys like we were doing before, then show that boss monster who’s boss!” Flowey returned to his pseudo-smile and splashed Yellow with water. “So don’t screw this up! And don’t run away while the baddies go free, okay?”

“…Got it, partner,” Yellow sighed, and reloaded her revolver for the next fight.

 

_______

 

A hooded shadow watched battle after battle from afar, eye blazing between aqua and amber.

“Almost to fourteen now… “

“Kid, what have you _done_?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her." John 8:7 (KJV)
> 
> The tragic siblings are reunited... If only they could see that.
> 
> This chapter was going to be two separate chapters, but they would've been to short. Merged they shall be! I like the way it turned out. : )
> 
> Up Next: There's just no a-void-ing it.


	26. From Dawn Until Dust

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We prepare for the end, but we're not there yet.

Yellow touched the skin of her eyelid, no eye waiting behind it.

If she concentrated hard enough, she _did_ have the sensation that she had had both of her eyes just moments ago. But there was no memory of that side of her face ever having sight. She might as well be trying to see out of her hand.

She kept her good eye trained on the narrow bridge, not wanting to topple into the lava rolling beneath the outside of the Core.

“I’m at a serious disadvantage here, Flowey,” Yellow grumbled at the second ‘partner’ she had been forced to cooperate with. “If you’ve reset enough times to know all there is about the Underground and all there is about _me_ , then what do you even need me for? Why not kill the doc yourself?”

Flowey chuckled, garting his teeth in annoyance. “I’ve reset a bunch of times, but I always get stuck at this part, and I absolutely _can’t_ let the timeline progress any further until I find a way around it. Even if I were to take a boss monster’s soul along with yours and tried to escape the barrier myself, my exit would still be blocked by someone even stronger. ” His barbed roots bored into the metal floor like it was tinfoil. “…Hypothetically speaking of course.”

“So you got beaten into a heap of chlorophyll is what you’re saying,” Yellow grumbled, unsurprised at the thought of Flowey killing her by this point. “And you think I stand a chance with one eye and a ranged weapon?”

Flowey hunched on his stem, smiling, but blatantly miffed at Yellow’s comment. “Look _buddy_ , _nethier_ of us stand a chance of getting out of here as things are… That’s why you’re going to get the souls from behind the thone room, however many there are. Then we’ll be strong enough to beat the big bad skeleton man.”

Chara’s anger fumed in Yellow’s gut like hot kindling.

“And what makes you think the souls need to have any part in this?”

“Well _you_ can’t absorb them, but _I_ can. With that kind of power, fighting the scientist will be as easy as snapping a twig.” Flowey emphasized his point by wrenching open the nearest elevator door with a sharp yank of his vines. “And you, _hero_ , will go free with his soul in hand. ”

His empty flattery did little to mask his deceit. He would probably take her soul along with the others.

Acting aloof wasn’t going to get Yellow through. If she continued to lay along, she would be delivering the souls to Flowey, and that would almost definitely result in him rampaging on the surface. And assuming he was telling the truth, if he couldn’t power his way past the barrier then the chances of Yellow escaping were equally unlucky.

Yellow idled a safe distance from the empty elevator shaft, staring up at the conniving flower. She decided to be straightforward with him. “And you think I’d just trust you with the souls and their power? After having already killed me at least once?”

“Come on, don’t be so bitter about it.” Flowey shrugged at his confession, shifting his face into a fanged, almost accusing leer. “Taking your soul, or anyone’s really- what’s it matter if it’s with the intention of ending the king’s injustice? I’m sure you’d have killed me too if you thought you were protecting someone…” His leaves drooped as his words faltered, then perked up again. “In the end, it’s not even about what’s right or wrong, huh? It’s just a matter of what side you’re on- monsters or humans.”

“I don’t really care about choosing ‘sides’. What, are you going to claim to be on ‘the humans side’ or something?”

“I’m on _your_ of course! You’d probably be better off just staying on the humans’ side though … Face it, if monsters are still killing humans hundreds of years after the war ended, don’t you think it’ kind of hopeless trying to play nice and neutral?”

“I don’t think I have the kind of power that would stop a war. I just don’t have the sympathy or mercy to be a peacemaker… But I’m not looking to wipe out all monsters, either. What I _can_ do is defend a few people who can’t fight for themselves.”

“ _That_ ,” Yellow slammed her fist to her chest in a burst of conviction. “ is why I’m here.”

Flowey fanned himself with an unimpressed leaf, smiling like he was watching a babbling infant. “Trying to stay out of the big fights to hold up your tiny group of expired idealists… I guess the side we’re on is really just the side of hopeless dreamers after all. Moral debate aside, I’ve already grown bored of watching you charge to your death. What reason is there not to trust me after that?”

The elevator descended to ground level, and Flowey directed Yellow into it with a harsh nudge from his vines. “Some fates are easier to suffer than others. Get me _at least_ two souls from Asgore before dusk. You can carry that much, right? I’ll be waiting here. Nothing personal, but there’s something… off… about this run- with the way you lost your eye and all. I’m not exactly betting on this one if I’m being honest.”

_’There’s more to this than he’s telling us,’_ Chara ‘s eyes widened in realization. _’Asgore’s going to kill us, isn’t he?’_

Yellow threw herself to exit the elevator, but was stopped in her tracks by a wall of thorns like saw blades. Dust trickled off the thorns, just like it did off the bottoms of Yellow’s shoes.

“As you can see, I’ve gone to a lot of trouble to get you this far. I’d rather not have to start over without you even making it up this elevator, so don’t waste anymore time trying to argue with me.” Flowey’s face was hardly visible past the dimly lit cluster of roots. They pried the elevator door shut with a horrible screech.

“Unless you want our time to run out permanently.”

 

_______

 

Asgore’s house was empty.

Yellow had actually knocked on the front door. Maybe Asgore would give her the souls if she asked politely. The Asgore Chara had known as father might’ve actually humored that request, but the king would surly have a better sense of responsibility for his actions by now. If nothing else, his mind was hard to change. It had been a while since Chara fought against him, and they wondered if they would really have to do so again.

They hoped not.

_’If he’s actually here like Flowey said, he’d be in the garden. Chances are he’ll want to fight you at the edge of the barrier-- where the canisters are protected. He’ll need to have an empty one to get your soul, but it could ugly… I can’t believe we’re actually doing this for him.’_

“Well, don’t really have a choice… I’ll try to think of something.” Yellow peered down the hall of what had once been a cheerful home.

The only sound to break the dismal silence was the creak of the floorboards underfoot. Some of the doorknobs still looked like new, and one of the vacant rooms was closed off. Sickeningly, there were several golden flowers dotted around the entire house. Yellow kept her eye trained on them like they might grow a face at any moment, but Chara took in their scent with chilly sentiment.

_’He used to have so many different kinds of plants. They took up half the house… If Toriel’s distraught to the point of becoming a recluse, the death of my brother and I must’ve hurt Asgore to the point of ripping up all his flowers except this one… Like he’s forcing himself to remember the hurt.’_

Chara’s eyes drifted to what had once been their bedroom door.

Perhaps everything inside would’ve been kept in its old place. Their drawings, books, bed, and perhaps even the birthday presents they’d never opened, all lying dormant among Asriel’s belongings.

Chara had died in that room.

With their own body, too, thinking it would be the last time they’d have to suffer like that. They touched their still fever-reddened cheeks.

Yellow stifled a cough with her sleeve. The sickness was getting more and more troublesome for her. Chara felt as if they had jinxed the cough with thoughts of their own illness, and tried to think of a different subject.

_’He… He could grow all kinds of flowers with his magic. It was amazing, really. Chamomile, gladiolus, pink roses, irises, bluebells, black-eyed susans, and… some other plant that I forget the name of. It’s got these long seed pods and it lives in moist environments—‘_

“Ew,” Yellow cringed, picking up a book on botany from a nearby table. “If you’re going to describe it using that word, you can just look it up instead. Honestly, using the word ‘moist’—in _any_ scenario-- is a crime.”

_’Moiisst!’_ Chara jeered with a wave of mischievous nostalgia as they flipped through the books with Yellow’s hands. _’Anyway, I’m pretty sure it was just called a water—oh.’_ Yellow’s finger glided to a halt beneath the title of a plant.

“Find it?”

_’Er… no. I found one with a really difficult name.’_

Yellow squinted at the page, then moved her finger down to a handful of common names below. “That’s the scientific name. A scientific name can tell you a lot about what kind of plant it is and where it came from, but it’s usually easier to remember it by a name that was given to it based off the story it means to folks that interacted with it. Call it one of these. Let’s see-- A flower with stories and legends about innocence, love, and death… Bleeding Heart sounds about right… Chara?”

Chara put the book aside, and turned away from the desolate gray hall.

_’Asgore’s not here. We should hurry up and check the garden before the sun sets. Just in case Flowey really can’t reset past a certain point and we end up dying for real.’_

Yellow took the hint and adjusted her hat before planting her feet at the top of the stairs.

“Alrighty then. Let’s see if the bull is in his stable.”

 

_______

 

The throne room was empty too, and dying sunlight trickled through the stained glass windows.

“So Flowey _did_ lie?” Yellow crunched golden petals underfoot as she entered, at a loss for how to proceed. “The king’s nowhere to be found. How are we supposed to get the souls, now?”

_’He sure sounded like he thought Asgore’d be here. Maybe… he’s trying to trick us somehow?’_

Wasn’t being forced into retrieving the souls for him enough of a trick? There didn’t seem to be a reason for him to lie about Asgore being here… Unless he _thought_ he was telling the truth? Having knowledge of the near future _should_ make Flowey practically omnipotent.

Then again… Chara often ran into inconsistencies when they were the one in control of the resets.

The realization struck Chara like a thousand volts, and they twisted Yellow in the direction of the barrier room, barreling through the pitch-black hallways as a breeze carried the faint sound of metal scraping against glass.

This wasn’t some trick from Flowey. This was something much more convoluted, and equally dangerous.

Yellow’s boots screeched against the shifting floor as the surface came into view. The sun hung low in the sky, barely tickling the horizon. They should still be on time.

And yet…

The sound of rolling glass trilled along the floor, stopping at Yellow’s feet.

Chara forced themselves to look down at it.

Traces of violet light sputtered and died at the edges of the empty canister.

“Behave yourselves, now,” spoke the man rising from the collection of empty containers. “You cannot worm your way out this time.”

Chara could do nothing but watch as the man spoke to himself.

“You’re all so quiet… Do they remember you at all?”

He turned, fixing a pair of carefully composed eyelights on Yellow’s petrified stare. His youth was restored, along with his power.

“Chara?”

Gaster cracked a slight smile, trying to withhold the way he must’ve been relishing the look on the child’s face. As for him, he no longer shied away from using Chara’s name.

Why would he be superstitious when he held the power of five souls plus his own?

Yellow swiftly drew her weapon, but inexplicable tremors ran up and down her arm as she tried to aim.

“H… How? I thought they’d be safe here…” Chara longed to flee, but found they couldn’t even make themselves take a step backward.

“It is true the king had the souls guarded by powerful magic, but…” Gaster blinked, igniting one eye in a bright viridian green. “I’m more than capable of dealing with him.”

“Don’t tell me you…” Chara trailed off. If they couldn’t run, they’d at least want to make sense of this.

“Killed him? No. I am not so quick to turn on my own—unlike you, demon. Didn’t you hear? There was a corpse found in New Home.”

For someone who claimed not to be a sadist, he took immense pleasure in his own cruel accomplishments. Chara cursed him under their breath.

“Naturally the king was called to investigate. Monsters do not leave corpses… After that, I suppose it boiled down to timing… and random chance, of course.”

“You made Flowey reset until you got your perfect timeline, huh?” Chara dug Yellow’s nails into the flesh of her palms. “The souls fought you before—They’ll fight you again!”

“It is with the souls’ cooperation that I was able to get this far. Perhaps if you cared to remember, they wouldn’t have let this happen.” Gaster tapped the side of his skull, causing the green eye to flicker. “ Or perhaps not. You see, some people just aren’t made for fighting… but they can still be of use to those that _are_.”

“I’ve had about enough of bad-mouthing the dead.” Yellow sneered, biting into the wilted clover. “So you’re Gaster, huh? Pleasure. What do you plan to do with those kids?”

“My immortality has returned to me…” Gaster let out a low chuckle, eyes flashing nearly every color under the sun. Although he looked young again, his facial movements were almost alien-- like he was wearing a mask. “As you would expect, I will destroy the barrier and begin the long-awaited war. What’s more, the power of the resets belongs to **me** now… I will destroy your burial place, demon, so that no human, determined or not, will ever abuse the timelines again. This is your last life.”

_’Then…’_ Chara breathed a fading whisper to Yellow. _’That’s it. It’s over.’_

_‘ We… failed.’_

The gun slipped from Yellow’s trembling fingers, clattering to the swaying floor.

“Now then—“

Gaster snapped his fingers.

Blue magic burst into the room, curling around Yellow’s body and ensnaring her.

She kicked her feet as she was dangled in mid-air like a fish on a line.

Gaster crossed the room with terribly great strides, approaching with his dark clothes billowing like improperly connected parts of his body. His punctured hand hovered mere inches from the motionless child.

Yellow felt his power radiate, like the second before a lightning strike, but she couldn’t get away!

He leaned close to Yellow’s ear.

Then he said something that made Chara’s blood go cold.

“…What… was that?” Yellow dared to ask.

She must’ve misheard.

“I am…” Gaster repeated softly, being sure to glance at her reaction.

“ _Sparing_ you.”

Yellow stammered unintelligible thoughts as Chara’s words were backed up like a train wreck.

Gaster let his hand drop, and Yellow fell with it.

“The times I’ve attacked you before were purely out of necessity. Now that I have more than enough to pass through the barrier, wiping out a disturbed child wouldn’t be worth the trouble. I’d still be required to cross the barrier to collect the final soul… You’ve no cause to fight those who don’t attack you first, correct? You would be wise not to interfere.”

“You—“ Yellow pulled herself to her feet as Gaster walked away. “All those children— _you’re a killer_! That’s more than enough reason to fight you!”

He didn’t stop his approach to the barrier’s edge, but he called over his shoulder.

“What’s done is done— However powerful I may be, I can’t travel back in time further than when I first gained this power. Their lives cannot be restored. I assure you, they are not in pain, and I will not cause them to suffer. All that matters is restoring monsterkind to the surface. Even if that means the start of a new war.”

“But several people will _die_!” Yellow dashed at Gaster, but stopped just short of reaching him when he turned to face her once more.

Her crossed his arms, looking more serious than entertained. In a distorted way, it was the look of a disappointed father.

“Yes. There will be a war, but I will make it a short one... But it’s no concern of yours. The creature inside of you doesn’t even care about humanity.” He tilted his head to the side. “Am I wrong, Chara? You only care about the humans that directly affect you. I’m giving you what you’ve been wanting. Take it.”

Chara stared through the window of Yellow’s remaining eye, and Gaster waited for their answer.

It was true.

This whole time, all they had wished was to protect at least _someone_ they cared about—failing each and every time as they watched them break down and perish. And because of their suffering, they had willed with all their might for Gaster to pay for what he had done to them. They longed to kill him, if only for the sake of saving their ‘family’.

But now…

To fight Gaster without the urgency to guard someone’s life, and no chance of victory…

It would nothing but a pitiful attempt at empty revenge for them.

“The end is in sight, but we’re not there yet,” Gaster said, the final rays of light shone behind him as the sun drowned into the horizon. “Walk away now, and this will all be just a child’s memory.”

Chara cradled Yellow’s arms, and hunched over, overwhelmed with grievous and conflicting murmurs of what to do and where to go—all of which did nothing but give Chara a massive headache.

Their shoulders shuddered, and they hid beneath the shadow of Yellow’s hat.

Gaster sighed, having lost of interest, and turned to pass through the barrier.

“Then I’ll be going—“

“Heh… Ha ha.”

Gaster looked back.

He had come to know that Chara laughed when overwhelmed with emotion, and so he didn’t initially think their laughter was any cause for alarm.

So he was mildly surprised when the bullet cracked into his spine.

He faced the creature that, even though they trembled with hysteria, landed a direct hit on him with their eyes flared like magma.

One eye was lightning yellow.

The other was ghostly red.

“ **HA!** You know, I think he was right. Everyone’s a hypocrite at _some_ point in life.”

“He? One of the souls I presume…” Gaster grimaced, inspecting the wound in torso. “Are you **sure** you’d rather fight? I don’t think you want to do tha—“

“What was it that you did after watching those monsters get killed in the war?” Chara interrupted with delighted disrespect. “Over and over and over— You went on to kill all of us, right? Well, just me, really. I mean—I get it, I was determined just like the war hero human. And I felt the same way about your spawn. Once you found out I was telling the kids to kill to defend themselves, you got even _more_ violent, didn’t you? Your plan to get rid of me backfired, and **your** actions got my brother killed, along with other the other kids with traits you could care less about otherwise.”

“I sacrificed few for many,” Gaster bit back cooly. “The prince’s death was unintentional, but my choice was logical to achieve this outcome—keeping control of the timelines and liberating my people.”

“Oh, it was _more_ than just _logic_ ,” Chara choked on waves of laughter. “It wasn’t good enough to kill me, so you tried to **erase me from _existence_!** I didn’t really know what it was before, but it’s so clear now. It wasn’t just because you hated me—“

A crooked smile split across Yellow’s face, unindiginous to the wearer, but her eyes softened somewhat from memories long gone.

“It was because you loved _them_. The monsters that were killed.”

Gaster scoffed, tapping the toe of his shoe against the floor that had now darkened to reflect the night sky. “I should think that would be obvious— but perhaps that feeling is lost on you. Don’t tell me you plan to act simply based on the notion that an _emotion_ can keep you alive. Make no mistake. If you fight me—you _will_ **die**.”

“That’s pretty funny, considering it’s your love for dwelling on the past that made you who you are right now.”

“It is thanks to what I have learned from the terrible past that I am able to give the future of monsters _hope_.”

“Right, right. And that’s good and all… But after this war is all said and done, do you really think the monsters alive _today_ would be okay if they found out what you did to all those humans? No matter how much you erase, there’s bound to be someone who’ll cherish the truth.”

“Everything I’ve done, I did for my people.” Gaster jabbed an index finger delclaringly at the ground. “It is easy to get monsters to see the ultimate truth. They will see things my way.”

“Fair enough. But let me ask you this.” Chara raised their head high to face Gaster unobscured from Yellow’s hat and hair.

“If someone you loved tried to stop you from destroying humanity, would you let them die just to have things your way?”

“You’re wasting time asking absurdly hypothetical questions.” Gaster pinched his nasal bone, eyes sparking orange with impatience. “Who on earth would have a life worth undoing all my work for?!”

“Maybe you forgot, but… Gaster. You’re a father.”

Gaster blinked twice.

Chara guessed the first was him considering the possibility that Sans or Papyrus might spare a human, and the second was being perplexed at the suggestion that he would forget his own family.

“Your sons. Did you… ever _tell them_ that you love them? Or do you love wallowing in your past that much more?”

“I don’t… see what expressing an emotion has to do with inspiring obedience,” Gaster squinted. “ Such a ridiculous tangent… Have you finally gone mad?”

Chara blinked back at Gaster, then breathed a solemn laugh. He really was bad at the whole ‘nurturing’ thing, wasn’t he? Still, Chara was shocked that they had a better understanding of something than he did, and it wasn’t even something they were _good_ at.

“Yeah,” Chara stared deep into Gaster’s eyes without really looking at _him_. “I’m mad. I’m mad because unlike you, I can still see that here and now, the ones I care for are right there in front of me—about to be used for something they would never wish for. I felt their compassion. They felt my grief. Even though I’ve never wished for the war to be prevented, they each had someone that they held dear—both on the surface and here underground. And so… Yellow?”

“Still here,” Yellow replied with a ready nod.

“I think… I want to fight. At least once more. Because _they_ cared.”

Chara finished still holding the gun pointed at Gaster, and shivered at the chilly evening breeze.

“So because you _can_ fight, no matter if it’s pointless,” Gaster murmured quietly with a hand on his wound. “You want to try and see if there’s such a possibility for _your_ perfect ending?”

“Because I _have_ to,” Chara declared adamantly.

“I see.” Gaster cocked an index finger at Yellow. “And you, human. You’re planning to go along with this, aren’t you?”

“Can’t say I’d be too fond of living in a world with you as it’s ringleader.” Yellow tipped her hat, and struggled to speak against her sore throat. “Sure, I might die, but my luck has been so far down in the ditch lately that I’d probably die shortly after, anyway.”

Gaster stood glaring at the duo’s arrogance.

By now the sun was set, and the wind had sharpened with palpable tension.

With no stars and no moon, they might as well have been standing in an empty void.

“As I expected… And here I was hoping to get a head start on decimating the village at the mountain’s base... But it would appear that it can’t be helped.”

Green light enveloped Gaster, and his wound knitted itself back together with tethers of black and white.

“Very well, foolish child.”

Great violet pillars of bone shot towards the sky, each one looming over Yellow in an tight enclosure.

“It’s time you learned **who’s really in control**.”

 

_______

 

Orange bullets sliced at Yellow like the talons of a hawk, but she didn’t stop climbing to give them a chance.

The violet bones were entirely vertical with little room for footholds. Yellow found herself wedged under a mess of claw-like finger bones as she teetered to balance on a warped kneecap.

Gaster himselfhad seemingly vanished, as the only light to emit in the darkness was cast by his magic.

Yellow scanned for him down below keeping the pace to avoid the onslaught of orange.

She almost didn’t stop in time for the cyan bullet shot from behind.

_’I’ll be your eyes—just focus on getting out of this cage!’_

Yellow scrambled to the top, her body heavier to lift as gravity intensified.

Some of the bullets switched trajectory to destroy the base of the violet columns, and the psychedelic tower quaked with threatening instability.

Yellow hefted her lead body onto the top of a set of ribs in time to encounter a ghoulish set of eyes with a cut-out smile.

Not a second after—the jaws of a wolf opened wide with the ear-ringing shriek of an explosion, sending the tower of calcium crashing into splinters on the mirrored floor.

Yellow’s shoulder cracked as she was slammed into the debris, and she gagged on the fluid that constricted her from the inside.

“I’m still awaiting that fight you promised,” The puppet smile crooned from above. “Feel free to concede anytime you wish.”

Yellow rose up, popping her only piece of monster candy into her mouth.

“I stay as long as you threaten humanity.”

“And _I_ stay as long as you threaten _her_!”

Chara fired the gun, and Gaster carelessly deflected it with two fingers illuminated with green.

Yellow had almost been hit by her own bullet.

_’No good-- We need to get closer!’_

The abyss had gone dark again, and Gaster hid with it.

A ring of blasters the size of horses cutting Yellow off from pursuing him.

Her clothes were singed from the beams of energy, and she was sent tumbling across the floor.

_’There! On your left!’_

A cyan eyelight flickered briefly at the edge of the room to summon a battalion of aqua femurs.

Rather than freezing to avoid the attack, Yellow pushed herself straight through the hailstorm, dodging as she did.

She reached out to grab Gaster by his collar and hit him at point blank.

Her body was forced back, this time by what felt like the pull of a magnet, and Gaster grinned with eyes flared blindingly.

_’He’s… standing outside the barrier?!’_

Yellow couldn’t touch him, but he snatched her by the neck, yanking her hard into what might as well have been a concrete wall.

He did not let go, and cyan hands held her pinned.

His other eye shone orange, jagged ribs poised to kill from behind Yellow.

Yellow grunted, and Gaster leaned close to whisper.

“Do you understand now? The chances of me dying here are null. Victory is impossible for y--!?”

Yellow spat her clover into his eye socket, fizzling out the cyan eye and hands.

She dove out of the way of the ribs, and the lodged into Gaster himself.

_He’s right! I can’t fight him by myself—at least not by the barrier!_

_’The hurry up and RUN already!’_

Yellow sprinted towards the throne room, but a barricade of reignited aqua bones blocked her way.

“Now you can’t expect me to let you go after all that talk of _morality_ ,” Gaster wheezed mid-heal.

He was closing in fast.

Yellow took aim at the aqua pillars and fired repeatedly.

The structure crumbled to dust, and Yellow bolted past with shattering breaths.

_I’m wasting too much ammo!_

**”GET BACK HERE, YOU WRETCHED ABOMINATION!”**

Thank _God_ Yellow was fast.

She cut through Asgore’s house, vaulting up the staircase and tearing her way out his front door.

She halted with dread as she realized the elevator would be too slow, and there was no alternate route down from the castle.

What’s more, the elevator door was sealed off with vines.

“Flowey! Flowey open the _door_!” Yellow hammered her fists at the vines while raw energy rapidly radiated into the hallway.

“Flow—“

The vines wrapped tight around Yellow’s hands, dragging her down the full length of the Core’s elevator shaft.

At the end of it, she swayed limp from whiplash in the presence of a _very_ agitated flower.

“IDIOT IDIOT _IDIOT!!_ ” Flowey hissed savagely. “You were too late! _Tell me_ you got the souls!?”

He desperately searched Yellow’s hands—even rifled through her pockets, but there was no soul to be found.

He tried to take a deep breath, and choked on his own leaves.

“Okay, fine! _Fine!_ I can work with this. I may not be in control anymore—“

He stretched each of Yellow’s limbs in a different direction, and she yelped as her soul manifested, battered and bruised.

“But at least I’ve still got **you**!”

Yellow struggled in vain against the vines.

Flowey lunged to strike, but froze the minute Yellow’s soul dyed green.

“That should keep you still for a while.”

Gaster, encased in blue magic, descended from the shaft, somehow not looking much different from before, but not looking the way a normal skeleton did. It was like he wasn’t real anymore.

“I’ve already made claims on that one,” Gaster dominated over Flowey. “Unless you plan on fighting too, that is.”

His eyes sparked dangerously, and Flowey was struck by fear he rarely expressed.

“W…What, _this_ soul? Ha Ha...”Flowey slung Yellow across the room and took off burrowing into the floor until he was completely out of sight.

“All yours, friend!”

“ _Coward_!” Yellow rasped as he fled, and fought to resist the Green magic’s hold.

“I’d almost forgotten. I’ll have to deal with him once I’m finished with you,” Gaster sighed, and conjured needle-thin bones the length of yardsticks to surround Yellow. “I do hope you’ve got something to defend with.”

The needles shot forward, and Yellow gritted her teeth.

She used up a round of bullets to destroy the first wave, but with the bones being so narrow, one slipped through and caught her leg.

She was in the middle of reloading when Gaster snapped his fingers for the second wave.

Three got through this time—the first grazed her face, the next two stuck in her arm.

Chara took the shock from the blow, but Yellow hunched over with ragged breath.

Gaster raised his hand for a third wave, and Yellow braced for impact.

_’Run!’_

Yellow looked down to see that the magic had timed out, and her soul was restored to its yellow hue.

She dashed away from the bullets, rushing to escape the room.

With a swipe of a hand, the whole room was washed blue, and lurched to the side like a catapult.

Yellow hit the ceiling, landing on the wall that had become the floor.

Chara knew this room.

They seized control, and rolled under a barrage of blasters to a panel on the wall.

With the flip of a switch, bars of hot lasers blocked off the elevator that Gaster still levitated in.

Gaster huffed in annoyance, tossing and spinning the adjacent rooms like record players as Yellow darted away.

It was like walking on a boat in the middle of a hurricane, and Yellow lost track of up and down. Even some the Core’s unfortunate employees were tossed around the swiftly interchanging rooms like pinballs.

Yellow reached a catwalk and clung to the railing until her knuckles turned white. The spinning was weaker now that she was farther away, and she collapsed to the floor, black ooze trailing from her mouth.

Breathing was nearly impossible, and a violent cough cut through her until her head felt like it was splitting apart.

There was the sound of a wall being blown to smithereens, and the spinning slowed enough to release the rail.

Yellow staggered, body slumped across the railing as she crossed the catwalk leading over a sea of strange-looking fire.

There was the scuff of a shoe behind them, and Chara spun around with weapon drawn.

They pulled the trigger at point blank, Gaster smirking down at them.

The gun clicked with no bullets to fire.

It was _empty_.

Sweat and dark fluid clotted in Yellow’s vision.

She could see nothing but the abyssal blue eye of the man lifting her up as if he had a hook in her soul.

“All finished, now? Nothing more to preach of ‘love’ or ‘friendship’?” Gaster flipped her upside down, along with her soul. Her hat fell down to the catwalk, but she clung helplessly to the gun.

He eyed the black liquid that dripped off her with slight curiosity.

“I wondered if kindness had been the only one who contracted this infection. It seems that was not the case… The extractor, the Core...” He beamed at the white-hot arcs of fire licking hungrily at the edges of the catwalk. “And now Chara. You’re all overflowing with the power of **emptiness**. An unnatural trait inspired by a person’s sense of loss. As you can expect, those tied to the trait ‘justice’ are more sensitive to loss, and are more susceptible as a result. Chara, you’re subtrait used to be justice, didn’t it?”

Being upside-down caused the bile to gravitate to Yellow’s mouth, and she caved in on herself at the start of an excruciating fit.

“Oddly enough, the power to erase comes with the power to store items or even minor events that should have been deleted. The place where this information is stored is know as the void. This can be used to create ‘glitches’ and ‘traps’—impossible occurrences. I believe one of the other souls attempted to use it to save someone once… but it is not like determination.”

His eyes glinted between two colors.

Then his eyelights went dark.

“But **I’m** the only one who knows how to use that power correctly.”

Unable to speak, Chara spat the liquid at him, but he backed up to the opposite rail. Without Yellow, their aim wasn’t even good enough to so much as hit him with a glob of spit.

Gaster held Yellow out over the edge of the railing.

His puppet smile twisted into something horrible—kicking up memories of the determination extractor. It was if his whole body had de-solidified, becoming knotted and incomprehensible.

Trying to look at him made splotches appear in Yellow’s vision. She could only look **down** into the fire.

Chara took control over Yellow’s eyes, and glared back at the hollow thing.

_’This whole mess started because he wanted it to. As screwed up as I think I am, it wasn’t my fault—this is HIS creation.’_

Though struck with fear and nearing the end—

Chara wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of killing them without indicating they saw him for what he truly was.

Gaster thrust his hand downward.

**”This time you’ll even forget _yourself_!”**

The grip on Yellow’s inverted soul was dropped.

She gradually slipped into the mercy of gravity and plummeted to the fire.

In a final burst of vivacious spite, Chara locked their eyes on their target.

At their command, Yellow heaved the empty gun skyward with all her strength.

It pegged Gaster hard in the face, causing his eyelights to briefly flicker out.

He clutched the calcified mask, and staggered to lean against the rail.

His amorphous body passed right through it.

By some miracle, or sheer dumb luck, Yellow’s flailing arm caught the floor of the catwalk, and she dangled with fazed transfixion on what fell beneath her feet.

She tried not to listen, but the sound couldn’t be blocked out.

All she could do was hang there until it stopped.

 

_______

 

She lay curled on the catwalk for the longest time.

There were five lights drifting around her, but their radiance hurt to look at with her remaining eye.

She didn’t know how it happened, but something on the way to retrieving the souls had caused her to collapse in pain. Her arm stung, but that was nothing compared to the ache in her lungs. The green light did his best to keep close… His? Sure, why not.

Why was she giving the souls to Flowey, anyway? He was already a spoiled brat with his reset power. Giving him _more_ power wouldn’t stop him from killing her, so she might as well let him continue to work against him until he grew bored of that too.

In any case, she couldn’t stay here.

She pushed herself to her knees, and her body immediately gave out again.

The lights… The _souls_ flocked around her as if they could be concerned, and Yellow let Green heal her as best he could.

In a moment, she had the strength to raise her head, and took in her dismal surroundings. Her hat and gun weren’t too far off. She’d have to take those with her, of course. There was a blaring alar that made her headache, but red lights brought her attention to an odd feeling.

“…Ch..r…?’

It was a mumbled call, but Chara could always understand what she was trying to say.

But nobody answered.

Yellow waited a little longer for a reply until even Cyan was nudging Yellow to evacuate before someone showed up to stop that alarm.

Orange and Blue drifted on each side of her, making it easier to move.

Yellow swayed on her feet, but found that she could walk. She didn’t really know where she was going. Chara was the one who had memorized, like, twenty variations of the Core’s layout.

_Anyone know how to get out of here?_ , Yellow thought, having the strangest feeling that the souls… the _children_ might be able to understand.

He drooped a little, like he wanted someone else to step up, but Purple carefully floated ahead to guide the way.

After several instances of falling down and Cyan warning the six of them out of the sight of a passing monster, Yellow finally came to the water’s edge where a riverperson was docked.

They commented that the water was wild that day, and that it was good luck. They didn’t speak anymore after that.

Yellow wandered Waterfall-- away from the dangers beyond Hotland, and away from the biting cold of Snowdin.

She really did just was to sleep.

She came to a dead end where the waterfalls mixed with garbage, and collapsed on a patch of flowers.

The children kept watch as she slept in the drizzling rainfall, knowing full well that one of the flowers was an imposter. But as souls, they were more of a danger to her if the flew within absorbing range.

The maniacal flower snapped his vines out to steal them away, and when he tired of their evasion, turned his attention to Yellow herself.

It didn’t seem like anything could be done.

But Yellow had a vague memory of explosions and witty, yet heavy-hearted exchange of dialogue.

Whoever had defended Yellow wasn’t happy to see her, but he didn’t aim to make things worse for her, either.

There wasn’t really any need to.

The number of souls needing to be returned to the castle had already become six.

Even then, it still felt like an enormous weight had been lifted.

 

_______

 

**[FILES 1-6 CORRUPT]**

**[LOADING FILE 0]**

**…**

**[LOAD FAILED]**

**[LOADING FILE 7]**

**…**

**…….**

**…………**

You woke up.

You waited for your body to move, but when nothing happened you moved it yourself.

Once you had moving thoroughly figured out, you proceeded down the hall.

This was a strange world, and there was much that had yet to be done.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy." (Proverbs 31:8-9)
> 
> Almost done now. It's been almost two years since starting this. It took a lot of reading for you to get here, so kudos to you! 
> 
> I might have a _slight_ obsession with flowers. I especially love chicory for whatever reason. 
> 
> Up Next: Finale


	27. In Loving Memory

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So who are you, really? Do you like flowers? Be careful to call them by the right name.
> 
> Latin is a dead language.

You couldn't remember what you had been doing before you had fallen down. You thought you might've tripped over a tree root, but even still, a mishmash of memories swirled like a maelstrom inside your head.

You couldn’t even remember your own name.

Your body seemed as familiar as ever, but hadn't you been taller? Shorter?

Did you even _have_ a name?

With no name to call ‘yourself’, you decided to simply go by the name ‘Red”. It was definitely nowhere close to your true name, but it would do for now.

You wandered through the Caverns, fighting through hoard after hoard of monsters to keep yourself alive. But after some investigating and getting to understand the strange beings, you came to realize that you had a soft spot for monsters.

So you went back, brought them all back to life, and continued onward.

You carried on with sparing (and occasionally flirting) with each and every monster you encountered, making friends, besties, and questionable food. Even though you had strong premonitions that it could all end in the blink of an eye, everything turned out just fine.

That was, until that flower showed up and erased your save file.

You weren’t sure if that empty space was a nightmare, or just a dream, but the souls helped you fight the heinous monstrosity until they were freed from his clutches. With no way back out of the void in this timeline, you reset, abiding by Flowey’s advice.

 

_______

 

 

The _true_ lab was plagued wall to wall with bad memories.

You—

They...

The both of them? stumbled across an old collection of VHS tapes.

The one who called themselves Red broke down laughing until tears torrented down their face. They couldn't pry their eyes away from the mirror at that wretched smile.

"You look horrible. Why are you even alive?"

The yet-to-be-named one choked those words back, and calmed the Snowdrake amalgamation with some light-hearted humor as the memories kept flowing in—Filling them both to the breaking point.

_Just how many times can a story end?_

Chara remembered what they had done to the Dreemurrs. To their family. To the souls. To--

Asriel.

They turned Asriel into Flowey.

In place of their brother, a reality best left forgotten, there was that _thing_. And his hysteric smile was a perfect mirror to their own.

Chara didn't know they could scream so loud.

Flowey took custody of the souls once more, and Chara and… _Frisk_ denied each and every death that threatened to erase the last memories of them.

The world was ending, but if Chara’s memory could be revived from the brink of erasure, then surely the memories of a few select monsters could be saved as well.

And somehow, with the very same power that both Chara and Frisk had come to know through human and monster souls alike-- With the power of loving memory, Asriel forfeited the fight, returning to the way Chara remembered him from all those years ago.

But...

"You're not really [Red], are you? [Red]'s been gone for a long time..."

Why would their brother act like they weren’t there…?

He went on, apologizing for his every action, but as far as Chara was concerned, the child standing before them was blameless. Their borrowed heart swelled just at the sight of him, and Chara and Frisk agreed to forgive his actions.

Chara considered calling out to him themselves. They felt it would be worth it for him to keep the souls with him for just _one more_ day, so that he could remain as himself for just a while longer…

But he released them, and shattered the barrier with their power.

And the souls drifted out of sight.

"It's best... if you just forget about me, okay? Go be with the people who love you."

Even though the empty space between them grew smaller and smaller as they met him in an embrace, it felt like they were drifting further and further.

Frisk awoke from their 'bad dream', monsters restored to their bodies and everything back to before Asriel's fight. Everything except the barrier. Everything was perfect. Everyone could go free.

**Just.**

**Like.**

**That.**

It just hadn't set in yet— yes, that was it.

Any moment now, Chara could put this all behind them and be at peace.

It was over.

This was the _best_ ending.

....But it wouldn't hurt to check their grave just to be sure nothing was amiss. Frisk wanted to see all the friends they had made anyway.

They stopped by the basement in the castle as a precaution, knowing their coffins would be empty. Chara wondered if Toriel intended to return the other’s remains to the families, or simply give them a proper burial like she had with them.

It was quite surprising when they first backtracked all the way to their resting place beneath the flowers. Asriel hadn’t run out of time yet, and Frisk sat next to him, legs crossed in the flower patch.

"I know why [Red] climbed the mountain. They only told me about it once, on a night when they couldn't sleep... They didn't like to talk about it, but something about the way they were treated on the surface led them to try and... jump."

"In truth... [Red] wasn't the greatest person. They-- they wanted me to kill all those people, and for what? In the end, I got us _both_ killed. So I guess... Frisk. You're the type of friend I wish I'd had. I no longer regret trying to avoid that fight… Thank you."

Each word he spoke weighed like a stone tied around Chara’s neck. A ghostly wind cradled the room in shivering dissonance, and Frisk’s mouth was left speechless as they struggled to find any words to comfort them.

"Ah-- but hey, you don't have to worry about that!" Asriel waved his hands wildly in response to Frisk’s reaction. "If this never happened to me-- to us, then we might not have ever destroyed the barrier. So don't feel bad over something you couldn't have prevented... I’m sure you’d go back and fix it if you could."

The truth was brutal, but it was a truth that Chara would have to force themselves to accept... Of course Frisk would be seen as a better person than Chara. They could reset and undo anything they wanted—a power that Chara hadn’t mastered until it was too late.

Asriel stayed behind to watch for the flowers, and Chara went on to watch over Frisk.

One person who understood them and cared for them was all they needed.

 

_______

 

"I want... to go with you." Frisk was the farthest thing from shy, but their words were always gentle and quiet. Chara encouraged their choice, watching them from afar as they stood out of reach from the blinding rays of sunset. It didn’t seem possible that they could go on continuing to live with their mother—there had always been some force driving them apart, sending them straight to their death each and every time. But there would be no more monster attacks, and Chara dared to hope that Toriel, Frisk, and them could live a peaceful, healthy life together. Maybe they would tell Toriel they were there—if they ever felt they were ready to.

This time, everything would finally be okay.

Toriel’s warm smile was almost as blinding as the sun, and she took Frisk’s hand in her own. “If you are certain there is no one else to return to, then I shall be more than happy take care of you. For as long as you need.”

Frisk returned her compassion with their own subtle smile, and waved for Chara to join them in the sun.

Chara took a deep breath, and let the light pass through them as they stepped forward.

Feeling… blurry.

“Come now. The others are waiting for us.” Toriel led Frisk to the path descending the mountain, even though they sensed something was clearly wrong.

A few more steps and Chara caved in on themselves, drowning in a cold, arctic static.

Their ruddy cheeks paled to lifeless blue.

Frisk tore away from Toriel, trying to restore Chara with their closeness. They reached out, and Chara reached back, but there was no contact between their unfeeling fingertips.

_’F-F-F-Frrriisk?’_ Chara chattered, nonexistent even to the warmth of the sun.

They saw Frisk speak the syllables of their name, but some force was tugging at them back.

Back into the depths of the Underground.

They fell, watching Frisk’s face morph from recognition to confusion.

And even while they still held eye contact, Chara heard the last of Frisk’s memory of them slip away.

The breath was wrenched from their lungs, and they plummeted until a horizontal tug released them at their destination.

They shivered wildly in the flower patch, whipping around for some explanation.

_’Why…? WHY-- WHY!?’_

They swiped at the flowers only to see that they had become invisible even to themselves.

_’I want to go with you-- I WANT TO STAY WITH YOU!!! Please…! Please…’_

As long as they had a voice, they continued to cry out…

_But nobody came._

 

_______

 

“…Hi.”

The flower craned over his smaller copies that adorned the resting space, speaking to nothing but the ground.

“So…”

“It seems like everything worked out. Monsters and humans are living in peace on the surface, and… no one had to die.”

_’…’_

“Take a deep breath... There’s nothing left to worry about…”

**’…….’**

‘Except… Well…” He drooped on his stem and gazed longingly at the dirt. “You’ve still got that power… Frisk’s determination was enough to compensate the loss of your own, but you… You’ve got the power to erase everything. Everything you all worked for.”

_’And yet I can’t even leave my own body... After all, a human clearly named ‘Frisk’ can never hold the soul of a different human named ‘[Chara]’...’_

“Look… it won’t get any better if you try and go back. This is the way things had to be… I _know_ what the damage of resetting can do to a person. So please… just let them go. Let Frisk live their life, even if you can’t go with them.”

_’How is it that we’ve been dead for so long, yet your superior morality still kills me?’_

Flowey averted his eyes, knowing that Chara’s words would hurt even more if he could love. “If that’s really the way you feel, and you just want to spend a little more time with them… Well, I can’t really do anything to stop you… But you know this is where we both stop. I’ve accepted this. So you have to erase my memories along with everyone else’s…. But I’ve already told you this before, haven’t I?”

_’Twelve… times. Actually.’_

“I see…” There was nothing Flowey could say that hadn’t already been said, and he ducked away into the earth. “See you later, then… [Red].”

Chara squinted at the dim surface light, feeling the distance between themselves and the surface, and feeling the gap corroding in their chest from the absence of Frisk’s heart.

_’Don’t. Call me that,’_ Chara thought, reaching for **[Continue]**. _’My name is Chara. And I want to run away.’_

The silence between them and Frisk settled like a suffocating blanket. Sitting at the point where the barrier used to be was as close to the sun Chara could manage to get. If they idled long enough, some monsters would cross over without them.

They found themselves… counting.

Just to see how many would leave them behind by the end of the day.

Most of them were from Hotland, since it was the closest. About forty.

Somewhere around eighteen from Waterfall—

Sixteen from Snowdin…

The Snowdrake kid came running to his reunited parents every time, all of them overjoyed and crying together.

It made Chara dizzy.

_’Heh… look at them all with their hope, love, and compassion… I’ve always been… so hopelessly envious.’_

Chara locked Frisk’s hands together for some form of comfort, but something had been broken, and they couldn’t feel a thing.

_’So, partner… What do you think? You know that old saying, right? Die a hero or live a villain? Just how many more heroes do I have to die as? I can’t get it off my mind, but... There has to be a way for me to be free too, right?’_

_’I know you said you’d help me get out, but… we both know too many resets would be the death of our sanity—yours and mine. We aren’t getting anywhere with these ‘perfect outcomes’…’_

_I know you feel like you don’t have a choice,_ Frisk attempted to negotiate. _But I also know you’re dreading what you have planned next._

_Don’t do it._

’I appreciate your concern, as always,’ Chara soothed. _’I’m sorry… I just need to see if… I just… need to see if I ever had a chance. Then I’ll put everything back without any memory of it whatsoever. And I think, then, that I’ll finally be able to let myself di--’_

_I’m NOT giving up on you._ Frisk shook their bangs, wearing that fiercely stubborn expression-- the one that defied all odds that came against them.

Fate simply loved Frisk more than it could ever care for Chara, and they felt their envy rise like bile.

_The next run, or even this one, we should ask around and see if anyone has any ideas on how to bring you with us. You’ve held on this long—so hold on a little longer._

Frisk grasped the locket hung around _their_ neck, and Chara couldn’t help but humor them with a smile.

Chara knew _exactly_ what kind of solution the monsters would have in store for Frisk if they were to try and separate the two of them. The reconstruction and preservation of the extractor was proof enough of that. Simply put, Chara’s power was too dangerous for the monsters to accept.

It really was the fate that scared them the most.

_’Frisk… I want this to be over for both of us. I’m going to see if I can become “corporeal” with you. If you can still say such pitying words to me after this next run… Well, you might be the only person alive who would ever do such a thing.’_

Before Frisk could plea with them anymore, Chara ripped their memories away, and sent them flying back to the place where they would awake with their face in the dirt.

 

_______

 

“You’re not really human. Are you?”

_So I’ve been told,_ Chara thought, trying to remain as distant from this run as possible.

“No…” Flowey gleefully circled his roots around the child clutching the dust-coated knife. “You’re empty—just like me! **Chara** , we’re still inseparable after all these years.”

_Why is it that ‘Flowey ‘is happier to see me than ‘Asriel’?_

On route to destroy all their ‘worthless memories’, Frisk had gone from quiet to silent.. This time, Chara didn’t discourage their violent actions, and slowly eased themselves into control over their body.

It wasn’t enjoyable for either of them—Sometimes Chara was the one who killed, sometimes it was Frisk.

Chara had more control over their host than they had ever had before, and yet they didn’t feel like themselves.

_Stay away from me. Don’t make this harder._

Of course most monsters just wouldn’t get a clue.

Snowdrake and that other Monster Kid strayed away from their parents and into Chara’s path.

Kids.

But this run wasn’t a permanent one.

As long as Frisk kept up their compliance and didn’t reset, maybe something could come of this. All they needed to do was to keep up their **Determination**.

Then they could stop all of this.

And they would finally be happy, right?

Undyne had been a surprise, but after a few do-overs she melted down from her mysterious determination. Good thing Frisk had feet small enough to fit into those ballet shoes.

By the time they got to Hotland, Frisk had stopped attacking—Not making an effort to move their own body, nor saying a word.

Chara felt strange being ‘alone’ with their thoughts.

There was a satisfying crunch under their foot as they stepped on a few scattered pellets of dog food, and Chara was reminded of that dog they almost accidentally poisoned.

The dog had been starving and mangy. All the other humans would either avoid it or tell it to get hit by a train. Naturally, Chara could relate to it. After almost killing it, however, Chara hadn’t seen it on the surface since.

It was such a tragic thing—almost poisoning someone you care about.

It was all too easy to think of their suppressed memories, now that their actions before paled in comparison to their actions right now.

Flowey on the other hand was still treating it all like a game, going on about his lost compassion, and the way he ‘followed Chara’s footsteps’ down to erasure.

He’s been imitating them.

Like an idiot.

“I didn’t _want_ to die. And so I came back. Again and again… Amazing, isn’t it, Chara?”

He offered nothing that Chara didn’t already infer from what they uncovered in previous runs. He thought Chara was killing for the sake of proving a point. He thought they had come back from the dead because he called for them. But much like Chara, he was tired of the Underground, too.

“Let’s finish what we started,” he smiled his blank meaningless smile along the dull view from the castle catwalks. “We’ll set everyone free, then watch them get destroyed by the humans—just like we were!”

“Then what?” Chara’s face didn’t bother to bend out of it’s bored shape. The timeline wouldn’t get that far, but Chara might as well humor the pitiful flower.

“Then…?” Flowey was somewhat at a loss, probably expecting Chara to be on board with his twisted revenge. “Well, I had a _few_ ideas. Hee hee hee… But… If you’re here… I think just escaping the Underground together would be enough.”

To escape this way…?

Now that Chara thought about it, it was a viable option. For him. Asgore would serve as the boss soul requirement, and then there were the six souls… And Flowey could absorb them all along with Frisk’s. Would Chara get absorbed too, or… would they lose Frisk and be trapped forever?

“If you plan on taking this soul from me, why would you bother telling me all of this?”

“Chara…” For someone without a soul, his words became awfully tender. “I said it before. Even after all this time, you’re still the only one who understands me. Creatures like us wouldn’t hesitate to **kill** each other if we got in each other’s way!”

Chara went stiff, and a wave of vile recollection hit them like a gunshot.

They looked down at Flowey, eyes slightly wider than stoic.

_You DID say you wouldn’t doubt me, didn’t you? Looking back, I should’ve seen through those words. If I had absorbed YOU, could all of this have been avoided?_

“So that’s… why… I…” Flowey trailed off, apparently sensing some unseen shift in the air.

Chara watched him with eyes light spotlights, and his petals rustled as he quivered.

“Haha…? What’s… this feeling? Hey… Chara… No hard feeling about back then, right?”

Chara couldn’t stop their thoughts from going off track.

_Right. No hard feelings for contributing in my eternal imprisonment… And you want to take Frisk from me now, too?_

“This might be a problem. You see—“ Chara took a curious step toward the golden flower who instinctively flinched back. “I’ve finally found a body that suits me—not too big, not too small. A body that’s juuuuust right.”

Chara took another step, knife in hand, though not intending to use it.

“B… Back off!” Flowey scampered to the edge of the catwalk. It must be quite the shock to see that the very person you tried to imitate is also getting in the way of everything you’ve worked for.

“I… I’ve changed my mind!” Flowey tried to salvage. “This isn’t a good idea. Y-you should go back, Chara. This world is fine as it is!”

“Don’t tell me _Flowey_ wants me to go back to being a pacifist now. Guess there’s still some Asriel left in you after all…“ Chara turned slowly towards him, feeling their lips curl upward.

_Then this should scare you enough._

“S-s-stop making that creepy face!”

“An idiot prince without a crown or a world to rule…” Chara felt their previously cured ‘illness’ pool at the edges of their eyes and into their mouth. “Do you think a crown of flowers would do?” They gurgled a laugh for emphasis.

As Chara had hoped, Flowey was recoiling away from them more and more.

_Yes… Stay away from me..._

“This isn’t funny! You’ve got a _sick_ sense of humor!”

One more step forward, and they finally broke his nerves.

Chara watched blankly as he skittered away with roots clinging to the beams of the catwalk. Soon enough, he was out of sight.

They stood quietly, and wiped half-heartedly at the goop dripping from their eyes.

Even after all they had done… they just couldn’t bear hurting him…. not him.

If they had gained enough LV, maybe they could try taking Asgore’s soul. They had been too shocked to take Toriel’s… But they could escape all by themselves, just for a little more time.

_You’ll get the ‘right ending’ after I’m done with mine… I promise._

_Just stay out of my way._

 

_______

 

“Heya… kid.”

“’Heya’, _pops_ ,” Chara mocked, annoyed that the spawn would bother to show his face despite knowing his odds. “I’m older than you, _remember_?”

“Well you still _act_ like a brat,” Sans retorted, standing like a barricade in the middle of the hall.

“You were one of the few monsters I actually _looked_ for, you know? I thought you might be lonely… I was going to tell you a joke about dust bunnies and everything! Where have you been hiding?”

“Been trying to fix a problem that manifested from your _last life_. If everything carried on as usual, you might not be having such a bad time right now.”

“The only problem I have right now is that you’re as big a failure as the _real_ murderer. You’ve been _trying_? Hilarious considering you could’ve saved Green or Yellow, or even _Frisk_ from theirs deaths at anytime. My memory may be full of holes, but bad times are all I can seem to remember.”

“So then you know what it’s like to have a funeral for someone who doesn’t exist…” Sans wasn’t even looking at Chara. “But who knows? Maybe _your brother_ knows more than you think he does.”

He drew a line across the floor with his slipper.

Chara squinted at the seemingly melancholy silhouette surrounded by that cursed sunlight. “You really are the biggest joke of all. You should be thanking me. You’d end up this way too if I let you continue—with you being a deathless boss monster and all. Just like me. Just like Flowey. Just like **him**. Hey… With only one HP, why don’t I just ‘spare’ you the agony? **I could make it as fast as getting shot with a blaster.** ”

Chara took a step toward him.

“Pretty **bold** assumption there,” Sans sighed, tilting his head back and spreading his feet apart. “…But it’s not your decision to make.”

Chara died almost instantly.

They actually _died_ to the hotdog salesman.

The absurdity of it all was maddening.

But it didn’t really matter now, did it?

Chara returned, stepping forward again.

Sans was speaking, but Chara wasn’t listening, focusing on not getting immediately obliterated.

They got farther and farther each time, but kept on dying for… Well no time at all, really.

And the birds kept on singing.

 But Chara hadn’t expected Sans to send them crashing out the stained glass window.

The colorful shards glittered with all the beauty of a shattered soul, and Chara swung up to the windowsill.

A thought struck them that perhaps they had enough LV to just skip Sans altogether.

They scaled up the outside of the hallway, and began running across the roof that stretched like a bridge all the way to the throne room.

A few more steps, however, had brought them to a screeching halt, and Sans manifested before them, bullets already zipping about their carefully calculated patterns.

Chara tucked out of the way of a barrage of blasters, musing at the destruction of a part of their precarious rooftop. Some of the debris broke off, spiraling a vast distance to the city of New Home below.

“It’s kind of flattering that you want me dead _so badly_!” Chara chastised, nearly sliding over the edge to dodge an energy blast. “Funny--You never put this much effort into _protecting_ us. Not even to keep your promise with dear sweet Toriel!”

“It’s all… just gonna be reset!” Sans panted between ragged breaths. “As far as promises go, I think the best way to protect someone who can’t even die in the first place--” He swiped up a hand to call on his magic, his jacket whipping in the wind.

“--is to save them from their own mind.”

His hand thrust forward in time with a fierce gale, sending a spine of vertebrae snaking around the crumbling structure.

Chara spun on their heel to clamor around the razor ribs coursing with karma, and they bolted across to Sans, knife raised to strike.

He sidestepped out of the way of the dulled plastic decoy.

In other circumstances, he might’ve found his nightmarish expression to the real knife in Chara’s other hand quite hilarious.

Chara twisted around, slicing through fabric with a diagonal slash.

He buckled to his knees, saying words Chara refused to hear.

They couldn’t watch.

That was the end of it.

 

_______

 

Every part of Frisk’s body responded exactly as it should’ve.

When Chara tried to move an arm, the arm would move.

When they touched the edges of the sweater, they could feel the worn thread between their fingertips.

Every movement and sensation was carried out with precision and without delay.

So….

Why did they lash out the way they did?

Flowey had killed Asgore before Chara had the chance to get to him, and the birds went dead silent..

That was Chara’s only way out-- Of course they were mad, but…

_At what point did this body decide it was okay to kill their own brother…?_

Chara collapsed to their knees, fingernails digging into their scalp.

_Stay away! Why didn’t you stay away!?_

_HOW did this happen? Just make it go away!_

**Chara wished with all their might for everything to _just end._**

….

**’Right…’**

**‘It’s your fault… you monster….’**

A slow, mesmerizing voice tickled Chara’s ear.

Chara whirled around to see the culprit, but it was like someone was cutting holes out of their vision. Soon, there wasn’t anything to see.

_’Who… said that?’_ Chara asked, aware of the fear tingling their speech.

They appeared in front of them, a simple, unfaltering smile plastered on their face.

**’It’s you!’** They chuckled lightly. **’Or is it me?’**

Their vision was split between two people, each looking back at one another having lost track of who was ‘Chara’, ‘Frisk’, or anyone else.

**’It doesn’t really matter now.’** Chara shrugged, shaking their head with a sigh. **’Rather—it doesn’t look like anything matters to you anymore… Well, except yourself, of course. Guess that’s why you’re the only thing still here… For now, anyway. It’s strange how someone can be so self absorbed yet still hate themselves so much, isn’t it?**

Chara grasped their old green sweater in their hands, and tried to take a step backwards.

But the distance they took from the other Chara stayed the same.

_’You’re not me--’_

**’Yes I am,’** Chara replied simply. **’You told me so. About how selfish you are—along with ashamed, dangerous, inconsistent… And you kept trying to fill yourself like a glass without a bottom. So we filled ourselves with LV., becoming powerful enough to eradicate the enemy. I told Frisk the same thing. Now you’re strong enough to break their souls of all those people you hate into pieces—just like you wanted when your own soul was fully in tact. But as a ‘demon’ that’s what you do, isn’t it? Break people into pieces for your own power… ’**

_’Are you trying to say you’re a piece of my soul? Are you the part of me that got erased?’_

**’Not just you, but everyone who falls to this power. You see, there’s a point in every child’s life where a little bit of me starts to exist within them. Some people have a little, other older people usually have a lot. Do you understand now? I’ve always been the one in control.’**

Chara felt the empty world shudder and shake. The only thing they could hear was the sound of a thousand hearts beating as one.

And each beat was held in **their** hands.

**’We’ve gotten so strong together, but now you feel this world has grown pointless, and you long for a new one. There is no one here to fight, and there is no one here to protect.’**

The heartbeat was crushed in their tar-stained fist, and the starved silence was deafening.

**’Regardless of Frisk’s response, neither of you had any hope of stopping me. Let’s not bother calling it ‘rest’ or ‘sleep’, because erasing—means turning ‘something’ into nothing. But it’s all finally over. And you and I will be together.’**

**‘F o r e v e r .'**

_’I don’t want this.’_

_’ **I do** n’t w **ant t** hi **s….’**_

I don’t want this….

The split vision sensation vanished.

Chara was left in the absence of light, lying motionless in mid-air.

Over the time that did not exist, Chara’s breath, along with the breath of the person lying beside them, became a hollow, haunting wind swirling with nowhere to go.

Hopeless.

There was only one other person who hadn’t been erased, and Chara realized that Frisk might think they were alone if Chara didn’t say anything to them.

_**”Interesting…”** _

_**“You want to go back… Don’t you?”** _

“….”

_**“You’re the one pushed me to this point… Exhausting myself of that world with your happiness that I could be a part of… But you can’t accept that it’s gone?”** _

“…….”

_**”Heh… Me neither, apparently. I didn’t want you or anyone else to get stuck with my mess… To just put their lives back together like broken toys… Do you really think we should be able to ‘play’ with reality like that without a care for anyone else?”** _

“…No.”

_**”See? This is what we deserve…”** _

_**“But perhaps…”** _

_**“The one who has the power to erase should be able to access all that they deleted, correct? I could put it all back… If you grant me the means of becoming fully corporeal with your body.”** _

_**”You will give me your soul.”** _

You called for help….

 

_______

 

Chara stepped forward onto the surface.

They felt misplaced among all Frisk’s smiling friends.

They felt sick forgiving Asriel, since their innocent façade was as much a lie as the number by their LV.

But more than anything they felt small against the serenely vibrant sky.

As far as they could tell, Frisk wasn’t with them, and Chara shivered in their vulnerable pacifist form.

They ended up staying with Toriel after all. Always eager and convenient. They played along, trying to find something to enjoy about this reality, and years and seconds became the same. They tried to assure themselves that they were perfectly happy despite everything.

But how could they when the name they were forced to carry was a blatant reminder of what they had done?

“Frisk, dear…? Are you awake?”

Yet another night of insomnia went by, and Toriel was kneeling by Chara as they pretended to snore in a blissful sleep. She stroked their hair with a doting exhale.

“Well if you _are_ awake, I just wanted you to know… I noticed you have not said a word since bringing us to the surface. If… there is something you wish to tell me, or if you simply need a bit or reassurance, I will listen…” She kissed their forehead, and set a slice of Butterscotch-Cinnamon Pie on the dresser beside them. Then she paused at the bedroom door on her way out. “You have helped to save us all from our prison, and led us to a prosperous life with the humans up here. We are all very grateful to you for giving us this chance… I understand that it may be a bit overwhelming at times, but… Frisk.”

“We all love you, very much. It will be okay.”

And the door clicked shut behind her, her soft steps padding down the hall, out of earshot.

Chara shot up from ‘sleep’, and threw their hands over their face to muffle their grievous cackles.

“It’s not okay…” Their cancerous smile cut across their face, and they kicked the covers aside to cross over to the window where a picture rested on the sill.

“I’ll _never_ be okay!” they laughed unwillingly, and snatched the photo from its frame. They glared at every smile on it, grabbing a red pen to blot them all out.

They could never help Chara, and Chara no longer understood them.

Everyone who understood was _gone_.

The space where they used to be ached, and Chara tried to count the stars from their window to ease the exhaustion from their mind.

_I miss them…_

Weary, they decided to get some air and try to step away from it all.

Outside was big, and many of the monsters had almost been too afraid of it to leave the Underground. Even Chara had times where they couldn’t look at it without feeling a slight tremor in their bones. If gravity gave out at any moment, everyone would just fall off the earth, and plunge into the star-filled sky.

Thankfully, Toriel wasn’t used to being around dense populations, and she and Chara lived in a secluded house in the middle of the woods. The sight of the leaf-bearing trees gave them some comfort, and Chara picked a direction and started to walk, just as they had all those years ago. Away from home. Away from civilization. And away from Mt. Ebott.

They passed under the archways of leaves painted with all the colors of autumn, kicking up heaps of earth-coated foliage up in their trail. The moonlight trickled in through the canopy, casting a pale mosaic of fall color to dance around as Chara swung a leg over a particularly large branch.

_What, do I think I can just run away from everything? There isn’t anywhere to go…_ Chara considered their options, passing through a tight line of trees until they heard an echoing _SNAP_.

Their hair swirled with the speed at which they turned their head, and found that the branch behind them was crushed into sawdust.

Chara twitched with annoyance at being stalked, but called as calmly as they could muster. “Come on out, Sans. I know it’s you.”

“Who, me?” He caused Chara to spin around again as he tapped them nonchalantly from behind. “Nah—I wouldn’t be able to do something like that. I just want to talk… Is this a good time?”

He backed away, hands tucked in his pockets, and Chara stared at him dubiously. For him to be out here at the precise moment Chara resolved to flee, it could only mean he was suspicious.

Why not humor him? Nothing more to lose.

“…You know what’s going on here. Don’t you?”

He looked almost surprised at their subtle confession.

“I’ve got my script to follow,” he nodded in his own admittance. “And you seem to know a bit more about me than you ought to… Mind telling me what that’s all about?”

“I can’t undo what I did, not really,” Chara said almost sincerely. “But I can put everything back the way it should be.”

Sans heaved a sigh, and leaned to stretch out his spine with a hearty crack. “Well, let those without blame throw the first stone, I suppose… No real need to protect my friends from someone without any execution points, right? I gotta keep reminding myself that there’s a difference between protecting my friends and destroying someone for my own justice. That wouldn’t help anyone, yeah?”

“Are you talking about…?” Chara trailed off, lest the bad memory surface into their head. Besides, there’s no way **he** never gained a single EXP. “Haha… Don’t tell me you’re still mad about that? C’mon, _pal_. I broke the barrier, remember?”

“Can’t say that I do,” he shrugged, locking eyes with Chara, then he winked. “It’s pretty rude to talk about people who are listening, anyway. I guess…” His gaze faltered, and he peered upward beyond the leaves. “I’ve just been wondering. Do you think he knew things would turn out this way? Don’t get me wrong, he _definitely_ hated you, but he was smarter than you might’ve realized. I mean-- we’re all free now, right?”

“If that’s what helps you sleep at night,” Chara dismissed. It was disturbing that someone could still love **him** , even if he would never say it back. “I really don’t care.”

“Well that’s not very nice. I care. And I know I’ve got at least _one_ mutual friend who cares about both of us. So you should care too, right?”

“Heh… well a genocidal pacifist does love to be a living contradiction,” Chara replied, picking at the dirt under their nails. “Guess we’ll never know for sure.”

They rolled back their shoulders and regarded Sans with half-lidded eyes. “But I will admit-- I’ve been extremely **bored** without a proper challenge… Hey. Do you think fighting you while I’m at level one would stir some real emotion for once?”

Sans’ expression switched like a light, and he returned the comment with a dirty look.

“Don’t do anything you’ll _regret_ , kid.”

**”Too late--!”**

They swung their blades out to dice, and Sans leapt backwards, strangely not forming an attack of his own.

“I mean it, kid. I’m here to talk… And to keep an eye on things.”

“What’s wrong, _buddy_?” Chara egged him on, desperate to relieve their endless repetition. “I’ve been reading all those old books on souls again, and I have some new moves I’ve been _dying_ to try out. _Come on!!_ I want to see how long your twig of a spine can withstand it--”

**“The true weight of all my sins!”**

They turned all their hurt into an outraged cry, and lunged at Sans head on.

_Still_ he did not move, but Chara chuckled anyway.

_Suit yourself. I finish you here, then use the LV to play with someone who WILL fight._

The knives came down, catching the fabric of Sans’ shirt, and with an impassioned swing—

Their hands were stopped.

Caught by two soft, paw-like hands, not much bigger than their own.

Chara gawked at the thing grasping onto them with his pained eyes.

“…Is this some kind of joke? You’re not supposed to be here.”

“Neither are you,” Asriel struggled to get the words out. He looked almost as he had before, yet his tufts of fur faded into green at the edges, flowing with chlorophyll.

“You _can’t_ be here-- you don’t have a soul!” Chara wrenched themselves out of his grasp, insulted by his futile presence. “And even if you did steal one on the way up here, you’d need seven to hold that form!”

“It’s true, I’m not quite myself. I never attempted this form with any less than seven souls.” Asriel held his green hands as proof of his incompleteness. “But as you ought to know from the time our souls were fused together that even just _one_ human soul is enough to drastically change someone’s appearance.”

“So you picked off some unlucky soul just to come here and have me kill you again… So much for your morality. ” Chara sharpened the knives against each other, grinning wickedly. Asriel took a step back in disbelief.

“That’s right. You may have killed everyone, but so have I. And unlike you, I did it while I still had a soul. So tell me, did you take this long because you were waiting to absorb a soul that died from natural causes, or are you still living by the idea ‘kill or be killed’?”

Asriel shook his head, watching the dried leaves tumble across the ground. “Chara… For you to kill and endure those resets… It was a conscious choice, make no mistake. But it was a choice made by someone who could still _feel_ every last bit of it. The pain of losing your loved ones… Somehow, I think that’s even more difficult to go through than being completely numb to it all. You tried to do what felt right in your heart and soul, even when your mind--”

“My _heart_? Really. Imagine that-- a blood-pumping organ from this borrowed body trying to keep me on the straight and narrow. You still don’t get it, do you? Whatever ‘perfect friendship’ you projected onto me during our time together is long gone. It’s been pretty obvious that no matter what good I tried to make of all that I’ve been through, when I’m added to the equation—a ‘happy ending’ just isn’t possible. You were right, dear brother--”

Chara twirled a knife in their hand, cocking their head to the side.

“Chara, please! Just listen to what I have to say!”

“Monsters. Humans. **Everyone** …. No matter how hard they try to ignore it, their pathetic lives all end the same—leaving others behind to deal with _the pain of it all_!”

They jabbed with one knife, anticipating it to be dodged so they could strike with the real one.

Asriel dove out of the way, but dodged the second blow as well with a somewhat uncharacteristic twirl.

He lost his balance, landing on his hands and knees.

Chara lunged at him while he was still down, only to have him whirl around and kick the plastic knife out of their hands—forcefully enough to send it lodged into a tree.

Asriel was panting, and his form seemed to flicker.

“Don’t tell me you’re already tired,” Chara taunted, yanking the knife free of the rotting bark. “I’m just warming u--- Hnn!?”

They dropped the toy knife and clutched their hand.

Somehow, they had taken damage.

Chara inspected the weapon as it lay motionless on the ground,

Radiating in a soft light blue.

_”That knife…”_ Asriel…? rose from the ground, his eyes morphing from their usual hue into a gentle river blue. They fell upon Chara as their expression stuck in shock at the flickering child.

_”Will not be hurting anyone anymore.”_

The two children stared, and the evening breeze tousled the leaves aside, allowing starlight to pool into the clearing.

“An unlucky soul, indeed…”

Chara’s rigid mouth moved into a manic, incredulous grin.

“ **CYAN**!”

Chara threw out their arms, offering a hug of acceptance to their precious lost friend.

“You don’t know how **happy** I am to see you! **Come here**!”

She kept her distance with a small smile. “It’s good to speak with you again… but first you have to drop your _knife_.”

“Oh…” Chara’s arms dropped disappointedly. “I should’ve known better than to think you’d fall for it.” Chara kept their weapon firmly in hand, smile falling into an accusing frown. “Because you’d rather hang out in Sans’ dreams than talk to the person you left behind.”

Sans glanced at Cyan questioningly, but she was entirely focused on Chara.

“I spoke with anyone I could… And I listened to every story there was to share. Chara. I believe I am able to understand, at least a little—if you take the time to hear what I have to sa—“

**”Block them out.”**

“ **Understand**? You?” Chara faked a laugh, and advanced so they were standing just inches away from Cyan’s nose. “Do you really think your short and insignificant life got you anywhere close to what _I’ve_ been through!? That’s nothing! You were probably the weakest of them all! Even the baby had more brains than you! This all began when you tried to give your life for someone who was going to die anyway. You. Are. **Worthless**.”

Her mouth hung agape, and Chara sneered with victorious satisfaction.

Then recoiled as Cyan’s shoulders trembled along to an unfitting sound.

She was _laughing_ at them.

“Ahaha…! Sorry, sorry!” She dabbed at the corners of her eyes, giggling through soft breaths. “It’s not funny—I shouldn’t laugh. But Chara… You really don’t remember?”

She straightened up, smiling the brightest Chara had ever seen from her.

“You already told me I have _value_. That my pain isn’t ‘nothing’ …Or are you more of a ‘change for the moment’ type of person? I get that. Being alone for too long can have that affect on people.”

Chara lunged, wrapping their fingers around her throat.

She clung to their wrists to keep their knife at bay.

“Look at you, all high and mighty like I didn’t kill you, too. If you’re not careful I’ll do it agai—“

Cyan flickered, and pounded Chara in the face with a curled fist.

They stumbled back, bringing a hand to their bruising cheek.

A new figure stood shaking the impact off his hand.

“Hey, remember when I said I’d give up when I was dead? Yeeaah, that was a lie.” The sunset orange soul staked an angry foot forward in an offensive stance. “Nobody’s erasing anybody. CAPICHE?”

“What, are you _all_ in there? Took pity on the poor flower boy and decided to go back, huh? Well I have a surprise for you” Chara swiped the knife in a an arc of fire, igniting the surrounding shrubbery.

“Spend enough time fused with a monster, and magic becomes all too easy to master. Don’t be a **FOOL** , Orange. Or you’ll get burnt to a _crisp_.”

The ravenous fire consumed and spread from branch after branch, burning red like willpower, red like passion, and red like LOVE.

The trees gave out, and crashed down into the raging underbrush. Chara’s amalgamate opponent flashed into a series of spinning pirouettes-- out of range of the falling debris.

“Charaaa!!” She called, eye’s bright and starry like the deep night sky. Her voice was ecstatic, but her expression grew stern. “Don’t say such mean things! You’ve been trying to keep it together, we know you have the same thoughts of doubt that we did! Don’t listen to the lies we always told ourselves!!”

“Oh quit your _whining_ already! You’ve always been too **naiive** for me to take you seriously! You didn’t even feel the pain of your own death!” Chara stepped over the flaming wreckage, the inferno casting crackling sparks into the dark, moonlit sky behind them. “If want to understand what pain _really_ is, then be good and _hold still_ —!!“

Chara cut an unrelenting flurry of flaming crescents through the brittle air, not letting up until they struck their target.

He keeled over onto the ground from the stinging blow, but got back up with arms wrapped tightly around his wheezing torso.

“You really thought we’d give up hope just like that? Come on, Chara.” His pained violet eyes bore into them like an open book. “It was our prison too. If you say we can’t understand, would you mind enlightening us with the rest of your story?”

“I’ve got nothing to say to people so **forgettable**!” The knife trembled in Chara’s hand, and they willed their magic to envelope it in a wrapping of flames—lengthening its reach like a sword.

They plunged it into the Earth, and fire fell from the heavens like comets.

The ground burst open from the impact, and sent chunks rock hurtling in the direction of the enemy.

The amalgamation called for help.

“I… I know you don’t _really_ want to hurt us, Chara,” he whispered with his compassionate forest-green eyes. The entire clearing was being seared to ashes, but he stood perfectly safe beneath a blaster—one with horns like a ram or goat. “A-and we don’t want you to be hurt anymore either. Just let us help you!”

Chara shot a furious glare at Sans, but it was clear that this wasn’t _his_ blaster. Green had called on Asriel’s Hyper Goner as a shield.

“Why don’t you use that blaster for what it’s really meant for? _Go ahead_! If you have all the answers, then just go on-- rip this world to shreds and make a better one! That weapon’ll be sure to kill everyone all at the same time—the entire world! So there won’t be anyone left to miss those who died. No one will be empty! And you’ll get to ‘play God’ in my stead. Let’s see how you like trying to appease everyone when all you’ll ever be is a **killer** …”

**Block them out…**

**Don’t look.**

**Don’t listen.**

**They’ll be gone before you know it.**

Chara’s chest tightened, feeling nauseated.

“Nah. Don’t think any of us would be up to the task,” the final soul with the lone, amber eye waved the blaster out of existence. “Each of us has made just as many mistakes as the last, and all together we’re no better than you, really. A full stable of hypocrites and murderers. Oh well. Can’t blame crazy people for doing crazy things.”

“Then hurry up and kill me already! And be free from our comparison!”

**Just go away! Get away from me!**

Yellow was right in front of Chara, now, standing amongst the cinders while they stopped their ears to try and keep themselves from hearing anything further.

“ _Mercy_ is when a person isn’t given the punishment they deserve. But you did the opposite. You _gave_ us your determination despite our deeds being punishable by death. Even when it was _pointless_ to do so… Hey partner? I don’t think killing someone, or even several people, would ever fix the damage that’s already been done…”

“You say that _now_?” Chara spat in the amalgamation’s direction. “I’ve had enough of this **empty** morality of yours. Is that all you humans ever care about? ‘Don’t do this or you’ll end up like poor Chara over there’? So what—you’ve all had some stalker chase you up a mountain, or someone you trust insult you to your face, or some sickness take someone you loved—You were all _victims_! I could’ve _saved_ them! ‘They’ll make it’ I told myself, and before I knew it— those drunken idiots drove right into a cargo train… Because I tried to run away from home. Do you even know what that feels like? ** _I_ put their lives in danger!** Afterwards they’d all say: screw up even once—and you’ll end up just like them! An undereducated useless waste on all mankind-- **They didn’t _deserve to die_ just so you could prove a moral point--!!** ”

The haunting amalgamation, for as many voices that could speak, was completely silent.

“I just--”

Chara ran out of words to push them away, and an alien sense of longing bubbled up inside of them.

“ _I just--!_ ”

The longing to give up.

“Don’t want to lose you all over again…”

The amalgamation kneeled in the charred grass, looking like no one in particular. Aside from a stray owl calling restlessly from afar, the night was quiet.

“You were all counting on me, and I made a mess of everything each and every time without fail. You all tried to care for me, and I tried to care back, but… So I tried to stand up for what you would have wanted, thinking I might have a chance at becoming a ‘good person’. But I botched that too. I can’t… let go of these terrible feelings. And I’m hurting you even now. Asriel… Do I really have to die for everything to be as it should? I tried before, at the top of the mountain, but…”

“It wasn’t what you really wanted,” Cyan finished for them.

A light drizzle started to fall, and pale light cascaded down from the raindrops sparkling in the moonlight.

“Chara,” everyone spoke, resting a hand on Chara’s, gently pulling the knife out of their limp hold. “You’ve been persisting, but you haven’t been living. We want to help you hold on to what you _do_ really want. Not a longing to ‘fix’ the world by erasing this or that, but a longing for that _something_. What that _something_ is can only be seen if you’re empty enough to realize its necessity… You can see them now, can’t you? You’re true hopes and dreams?”

Chara laughed, crying normal tears for the first time in… well it hadn’t been all that long, had it? They hid beneath their bangs all the same. “Why do you want me to indulge in the impossible? Sure, I can ‘get my hopes up’, but it’ll only make the fall hurt that much more.”

“I dunno, the power of seven human souls can do some crazy stuff,” Asriel pushed Chara’s bangs away from their swollen red eyes. “And we’ve got eight on our side, don’t we?”

“Asriel… My soul was broken into pieces at the same time yours turned to dust. All I’ve got is Frisk’s soul, and they’re…”

“Still in there. Deep down in that dark part of your soul. As for the other pieces—“ Asriel poked his own chest, and six souls hovered around him, each with slight fractures held together by a red glow. “We were never really apart… y’know?”

“So… are you planning to absor—“

Asriel cut them off with the raise of his hand. “You can move between the bodies you’re connected to, right? Give Frisk back their body and soul, and merge with us completely.”

“Would… that work, though?” Chara put a tentative hand to Frisk’s chest. Their heart was pounding. “I—I mean, would a fractured soul even count?”

“Well it won’t hurt to _try_ , crybaby,” Asriel gave a hearty laugh at Chara’s expense. “Um… What _should_ we do with that power, anyway?”

“I want…”

Chara turned to the fallen children.

“I want all of you to be able to live your lives on the surface—before you fell. And I want the barrier to still be broken. And I want to give Frisk control over their own life-- And I want to stay with Asriel—!”

“Hold on, kid.”

Sans stepped out from wherever he had been loitering, and regarded the children with a grim expression.

“What happened in the Underground over the past century is saved and locked in stone. You can’t go back to before Frisk fell down.”

Chara and Asriel hung their heads.

Of course there would be a catch.

“But—“ Sans continued, the children snapping back to attention. “What’s happened on the _surface_ in this past century. That’s another case entirely.”

“So what are you saying exactly?” Purple piped up.

Sans began flipping through his notes, scrolling through walls of text no one else could read. “Remember when the barrier was destroyed and all the monster souls that got absorbed were sent back to their bodies without any memory of the entire event? Yeah me neither, but it happened all the same. You could send the human souls back to their lives on the surface and have everything carry on like normal—completely separate from the Underground. And the barrier will still break at its destined time.”

“So… we can all go back?” The fallen children asked in unison.

“What about Chara and Asriel?” Green asked, turning the amalgamation’s hopeful look into a sad one.

“They might be able to ‘return to the surface’ too, considering they both crossed the barrier before, but…”

“We got murdered immediately after,” Chara concluded solemnly. “Besides… Asriel doesn’t have a soul of his own to send back… Could we… maybe… stay here, then? And just send the others back?”

“Well…” Sans put a finger to his chin and thought. “Probably? If you think you can substitute for Asriel’s soul all on your own. Otherwise he’ll turn back into a flower. And wouldn’t that be a thorn in everyone’s side?”

Everyone groaned.

“Welp. On that note—“ Sans stuffed his hands into his pockets, and bunched his shoulders around his head before turning to shuffle off. “Let me know how it turns out, ok?”

“Are you sure this is fine?” Chara hollered after him. “This won’t like… cause a paradox or destroy all time forever or anything?”

“Paradox shmaradox,” Sans waved with a wink. “You’re all magic and glowy now. I’m sure it’ll be fine. No need to over complicate things, eh?”

Chara sprung to their feet to chase after him. “But what if something goes wrong again!? Even if this has been the perfect outcome until now—“

“Uh, Chara?” Yellow caught Chara by the wrist and gave it a reassuring squeeze. “I don’t think there’s such thing as a ‘perfect outcome’ in real life. Besides. We all literally died. I think the worst has passed.”

“Yeah!~” Blue chimed in, bouncing on her heels. “We’ll be okay! And we’ll all see each other again some day because we all love you!!”

“Even Orange,” Cyan added, causing Orange to take over and reel back.

“Wha—DON’T CALL ME OUT LIKE THAT…. Even if it’s a little bit true… Just a little bit…”

Chara let out a slight chuckle. It was kind of an awkward laugh, but it was a good one.

Soon they found themselves grasping hands with their brother at arms length, tears still stinging the edges of their eyes.

“…Ready?”

Chara nodded, and relinquished their hold on Frisk’s soul, feeling the fragments they had stored within them gradually slip into Asriel to join with the others.

The hand-grasp turned into an embrace as water rolled down Frisk’s cheeks.

Chara could feel the souls of their loved ones surrounding them in a flash of rainbow, all yearning for the same thing.

And Chara bid them farewell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers,the moon and the stars, which you have ordained; what is man, that you think of him? What is the son of man, that you care for him?" Psalm 8:3-4 (WEB)
> 
> I can't believe we actually hit over 50 kudos-- That's a lot of people!
> 
> I decided to include the genocide route because it's super important for Chara's story (Even if canonically it's a bit different). Chara's backstory is meant to reflect the way in game where if you mess up and kill even one monster, you're barred from the True Ending for that entire run. Because Chara isn't really evil, they just messed up like everyone does. (That moment when you're the final boss to your own story). I listened to a lot of Twenty One Pilots for the first half (Especially Isle of Flightless Birds). Then I moved on to traditional Undertale and Touhou OST's.
> 
> An alternate title for this lounge chapter is 'Extra Life'. I spent all day just editing this.  
> (If I write any more stories in the future I'll make them shorter, haha)
> 
> He's not coming back, but I do wonder about Gaster...
> 
> Up Next: Bring It In, Guys!


	28. Finale

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Epilogue

“Mom?”

“…Toriel?”

“Mooooom—“

Toriel burst out the front door.

“FRISK! My child, you should not leave the house so late at night! You didn’t even tell me where—I was so—I thought you were—“

Frisk interrupted their mother’s frantic fretting by embracing her with the biggest hug their tiny arms could muster.

“WHERE _WERE_ YOU?”

“I think I was sleepwalking. I had the craziest dream about… huh.”

“About what, dear?”

“Mom… can I ask where the other fallen children are buried? It’s only right that I pay my respects.”

“I…’ Toriel lowered her head, looking somewhat somber, but more so confused. “I have not moved them yet… You were with me when we left the mountain, were you not?”

Frisk gawked up at Toriel, then tilted their head to the six stars flickering above.

“I… see.”

 

_______

 

In another time, in another place. A young girl by the name of Lynn began her first days at her new school. She didn't make many friends, and she missed the memories of her old home terribly. She felt that she couldn't bear it all, and wanted everything to go back to the way it was-- to reset back to the time when she felt loved. Her parents caught notice of this, and arranged to meet up at the fabled mountain. As usual, there was a lot of argueing. Her parents didn't exactly get along anymore, but they tried their best for her sake. Despite their best efforts, she nearly ran off, feeling like she was going to burst… But she stopped herself. She felt a sudden tug in her chest, and decided to stay patient with the two of them. Later she returned home, but her father said they could revisit her mother in the town by the mountain anytime she wanted.

During one of those visits on a bright and sunny morning, she went on a walk by herself to the mountain. Hearing crackling in the bushes, she found a group of large men circled around a boy about her age. They cursed slanderous words at him, and dragged him away, further up the mountain. When she took out her phone and announced from a far that she had called the police, the men fled, ditching the boy with a final shove. Lynn offered him her hand, and he took it. His name turned out to be Leo, and (even though they were different in just about every way) the two of them grew very close. They met up whenever they could, and sometimes Leo’s older brother would tag along.

During one of their meetings, Leo had mentioned that he received an anonymous letter-- an invitation to a ballet recital, poorly scrawled out in crayon. They both agreed it would be fun to attend the ‘mysterious’ stranger’s performance. So they did. But no one else was there. No one except a small girl by the name of Gracie, dawning a frilly pink tutu. She brightened at her audience of two, and escorted them to front row seats. After some time, a few more people gathered around to enjoy the show.

Gracie went on to become a dance instructor in a small building by Ebott Middle School. One day, one of her students came to her asking for help, and led her outside where a young boy, who Gracie had learned to be named Wren, was being harshly ridiculed by one of the teachers for his obsession with stories about monsters. Gracie stepped forward, informing the teacher that this was no way to encourage Wren's creative growth. After that, Wren would stop by the dance studio everyday after school where he could write in peace. He stopped shutting himself away in his bedroom, and went out to enjoy the snowfall in the wintertime.

Wren's stories became a modest success, and a few locals would stop him every now and then to talk about his work. Wren recognized one of the readers he knew to be named Oliver as he ran past him on the sidewalk one day. Wren knew something was wrong, and ran to catch up to him. Oliver's mother was deathly ill with little hope of recovery. It just happened that Wren had several doctors in his family. Strict as they all were, Wren was able to pull some strings to help Oliver and his mother.

Oliver took up a part time job at a family restaurant to help pay off his mother's medical bills. She was doing better and better everyday, smiling whenever he came to see her. The work was hard, but Oliver had a strong heart. Several families were enjoying their food at the restaurant when a man burst in armed with a gun. Everyone ducked under the tables, but a young girl called Alec and her family weren't able to duck down in time. Barely giving himself anytime to think, Oliver leapt in front of the family. By some miracle, the bullets ricocheted off Oliver's frying pan and hit the man in the leg. No one died that day.

Alec grew to be strong and cheerful, aspiring to be a sheriff someday. She had just begun her training when she saw the news. Monsters were migrating out from Mt. Ebott, a small child leading the way. Apparently they meant no harm. Alec didn't know what to make of it at first, but she knew she would be needed to help keep the civilians from panicking at someone who was different from them. She, along with five other’s would be the first humans to greet the somewhat familiar group of monsters.

The mountain was left empty, with the ghost stories left behind. But some still say they hear the laughter of children playing in the overgrown gardens.

And after many months of extending peace and reassurance between humans and monsters, the ambassador, Frisk, felt that they could finally get some rest.

 

_______

 

“…”

“…..”

“…Chara? Are you asleep?”

“Nhhh? I _was_. What is it, Asriel?”

“Well… I was thinking again.”

“Congratulations. You found your brain.”

“Wha— I’m being serious, here. I’m… just worried. Someday… We’ll die for real. I may be a boss monster, but even I’m not truly immortal. When it happens… what if…”

“Then we’ll both just hitch a ride on my soul until you… I dunno, grow yours back? Is that a thing? I’m tired, and we agreed to wake up early to tell Mom we’re still alive. But my point is that worrying isn’t going to help anything.”

“I guess you’re right… We could waste our precious time away by stressing out over every little thing—“

“—But we’ve got something better to do…”

“Goodnight, Chara.”

“Goodnight... Asriel.”

The two of them in their shared body rolled over in the quiet cover of night,

And drifted off into a peaceful sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "He said to them, “Because of your unbelief. For most certainly I tell you, if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you will tell this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you." Matthew 17: 20 (WEB)
> 
> And there it is. I had a story to tell, and I told it. And I learned a lot along the way through the story's ups and downs... I'm a little sad to see it end, but I'll still be working on the comic. (I learned about writing and now I must draw!)
> 
> The longest chapter followed by the shortest. (Whaaat-!? Two chapters posted back to back? Unthinkable! XD)
> 
> Welp. I posted this at 1:00 a.m. again.That's all I have to say about that, but ask any questions you like, and I'll be happy to answer!
> 
> Goodnight everyone, and thank you all for reading!~ : )


End file.
